Why is it, that the Dawn Gaurdian/Protecter Myth is similar to my story? Or am I just bieng paranoid.... ANd Cloud's Bailey's brother?! (Falls over) Well, that was a shocker. Nice work Jap! Looking forward to the next chapter.
(fangirl squeals) Amazing work Jap! Not to mention, Creative!Riku is really good. I can actually see the look that must have been on Bailey's face when he gave her that necklace. It sounds really pretty too. Although....since the Shooting stars mean the worlds barriers are down again, what's going to happen? And what is she going to do with those Paopu seeds?
Thalassa_Shells: Yes, Sora does have the tendency to be overly reckless. That means head trauma, which means down he goes~! As much as I like the little runt, he's just too easy to clobber. :rofl: Well. This wasn't easy. (huffs) Gah. I'll never understand why so many people think that Orlando Bloom (Will Turner/Legolas) is "hot". He's okay looking, but not hot. ---- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- We left Disney Castle the next morning, once Sora had recovered enough. Goodbyes for Donald and Goofy really tugged at my heart, but I said nothing as we reboarded Infinity and headed off. The flight to Port Royal was a short one, and we were on the Docks in no time. It was almost midnight here, if the clocktower was anything to see. The full moon and streetlamps gave off enough light to see by, and Donald looked around with an awestruck look. As Donald and Goofy peered around, Sora slunk over to me. "So, enjoy your time in the Gardens last night?" I stiffened, blushing crimson red. He'd seen that?! I shook my head, mentally smacking myself. "I don't know what you're talking about." Sora smiled, patting my shoulder. "Sure you don't. So, he's ok?" Seeing no point in hiding it any longer, I nodded. Sora sagged in relief, before we all jumped a foot in the air as screams rang throughout the Town. Summoning the Keyblade, Sora raced headlong onto the Ramparts in time to catch sight of Pete and Barbossa, along with Barbossa's pirates. "Hey!" Pete scowled. "See there? I knew it! Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about!" Sora snarled. "Who are you calling punks?! It's Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy to you! And don't you forget it!" Barbossa raised a brow. "That we won't. And we'll engrave it on your tombstones as well, laddie. Of course, the little lass might be spared, if she drops those blades." I snarled, glaring at him. Barbossa laughed at the look I was giving him, and Pete smirked. "Whoa! I like your style!" Barbossa half-bowed towards Pete, then spun on his men. "Men! Half of you stay here and engage these cullies. The rest of you, bring me that Medallion!" They resounded the command in unison, half the men and Barbossa heading off towards Town. Sora smirked. "Aw, we only get to stomp on a few of you?" Barbossa laughed over his shoulder, and we sprung at the Pirates. But becuase they were underneath the cloud cover, they were immune to our attacks. Sora hopped back as one pirate nearly chopped off his head. "It's no use! We can't beat them!" The leader of the ones who remained behind smiled cruelly. "Aye, whaddya be expecting lad?" I looked up towards the sky as the clouds began to clear, then looked back at our foes as the moonlight transformed them into the cursed forms they were. Not having taken notice of the change, they continued to taunt us. "You'd best be saying your prayers!" Pete reached out a hand, trying to catch their attention. "Hey, watch out! They can see ya! Stay away from thier magic!" We all turned to Donald, and I bowed to the little Wizard. He smiled evily, casting a tremendous Fira spell just as the Pirates turned back to us. The clothing they were wearing caught on fire, and they all leapt into the water. Sora dismissed the Keyblade, and turned to Pete. "Hey, Pete, thanks for the tip!" Smacking himself upside the head, Pete ran off. We watched him leave with smiles on our faces, then turned to face one another. "If Pete's here, there's work to be done." Goofy nodded. "Yep, and that Pirate captain guy looked pretty mean too." Sora shuddered, rubbing his arms fiercely. "Man, I'd hate to see him turn into a Heartless. He's probably a better fighter than Riku was last time." I crossed my arms with a nod. "Probably is. Knowing Riku, he's gotten a bit rusty lately." Sora looked at me strangely for a moment, then turned back to Donald as the duck spoke up again. "Well, we ARE here...." Sora smirked. "Hey, maybe we can take a pirate ship out for a spin!" We all stared at him for a moment, and he laughed. "Just kidding! Although, weren't those guys headed into town?" Goofy nodded. "Yeah, I think they were looking for treasure." We all jumped again as another scream rang through the wet night air, and we raced into town just in time to see Elizabeth being carried off by a pirate. She was screaming as she beat his back with her fists, causing an aquaintance to chase after them. He skidded to a stop as Shadows came up from the ground to stop his path. He stepped back, but drew his sword and cut down an attacking Shadow as we ran to his side. "What are these creatures!" Donald cast a Gravity spell that left my ears ringing, and he turned to Will. "It's the Heartless! Watch out!" Sora cut down another Shadow that would have taken his nose off, and shoved Will on the shoulder. "Well deal with them, go and take cover!" Will nodded, running towards the Docks in pursuit of Elizabeth. Before he could get there however, a NeoShadow leapt from the wall, creating a gash on his forehead and knocking him to the ground. Goofy threw his shield at the creature, knocking it away long enough for Sora to finish it off. I batted Will's hand away from his injury, Cure magic dancing at my fingertips. As the wound healed over, he looked at Sora. "Thank you. My own fencing skills are nothing to be ashamed of, but I've never faced foes like this before." Sora blushed a tiny bit as we helped Will to his feet. "You really think we're that good?" Will nodded, then his face became serious. "Please, I need your help. My friend, she's been kidnapped by pirates. I can reward you if need be..but I beg of you, help me rescue Elizabeth." Sora and I shared a smile, and nodded to Will. My friend laced his fingers behind his back. "There's no need for a reward, of course we'll help you. I'm Sora, and these are my friends. Christie, Donald and Goofy." Will, having sagged in relief, stood up straight. "And I'm William Turner. But please, call me Will." Sora nodded, and we ran towards the Docks just in time to catch sight of the Black Pearl heading out to sea. Will reached out a hand, then looked away. "We're too late." At Sora's look of confusion, he continued. "Those pirates kidnapped Miss Swann, and took her aboard their ship...Now that they've sailed, I'll never be able to find her.." "Then she's likely gone forever. The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best to find yourself another girl mate." We turned, and I rolled my eyes as Jack Sparrow came down the Interceptors boarding rail. Will raised a brow. "You...What are you doing aboard the Interceptor? She's off limit's to civilians." Jack smirked. "Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer then. She'll make a fine pirate ship." Sora started to bounce around, and I sighed as Jack hit our level. "Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please." Will, ignoring Jacks request of a title, turned to the pirate. "Take me with you. Help me hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swann. I broke you out of that jail Sparrow, do this and your debt to me is finished." Jack contemplated this for a moment, then shook his head. "You'll have to win the fair lady's heart alone Mate. I see no profit in this for me." I rolled my eyes, turning to Jack. "I'm no sailor, Captain, but this is a fairly large ship. Are you sure that you can sail her alone?" Jack frowned, rubbing his neck. "You've a point there Lass. Alright, all aboard." Will headed up first, sidestepping Jack on his way. "Thanks, Sparrow." Jack put his hands on his hips as he turned to us. "CAPTAIN Sparrow, got it..." Sora stepped forward, one hand extended as he introduced us. "I'm Sora, this is Christie. They're Donald and Goofy." Will nodded, leaning against the starboard side of the Interceptor. "I'm Will Turner." Jack raised a brow. "That would be short for William, I imagine. No doubt named for your father, eh?" Will nodded, and Jack smirked. "Well then Mr. Turner. You get us ready to make way. I've some effects left to liberate." Will nodded, and disappeared from view. Jack sighed, and turned to us. "What do you four make of this Will?" I shook my head, heading up the ramp. "We just met him ourselves. He's a nice enough guy, don't worry about him." Jack raised a brow, and headed off into town. Under Will's instruction, we had the Interceptor ready for launch by the time Jack returned, fifteen minutes later. He untied the Interceptors mooring lines and raised the anchor with a little help from Goofy, and we were off. About half an hour out of Port, Jack brought out a compass and stared at it, changing our course accordingly. Will turned to him. "Why are you so fixated on that compass?" "It'll be she whom leads us to Isla de Muerta, where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?" Sora tilted his head. "How do you know?" Jack closed the compass, placing it in his vest pocket. "Ah, lad...He and I once had our eyes on a treasure. Aztec gold. 'Twas hidden on the Isla de Muerta, the Island of Death. But he turned traitor and stole me ship." I let my hair down, leaning against the mast. "So, he's after the treasure?" Jack shook his head, beaded dreadlocks clinking on eachother. "No Lass, the treasure's already his. So's the curse upon it, which I've no desire for. But I will have back what's mine. The Black Pearl." With our course set, Jack retreated to the Captains quarters, leaving Will at the helm. I sighed, leaning against the gaurd rail on the starboard side, wind blowing my hair from my face. I closed my eyes with a smile. ---- Rinoa ran forward to the edge of the balcony, looking out towards the mountains with a bright smile. Squall followed slower, his sleeping four year old sister in his arms. Rinoa turned back to face him, holding her long black hair away from her eyes. "Squall, do you think we'll be like this forever?" Squall shook his head, adjusting his hold on Christie. "Not forever. We won't be here forever. But we'll stay as long as possible. As long as I'm still alive, we'll be together." Rinoa smiled gently, kissing him on the cheek as she stepped away from the railing. "Thank you, Squall." ---- "Christie, you still awake in there?" I nodded to Sora, opening my eyes. He was standing next to me, but stepped back as I stood up straight and redid my ponytail. "You ok?" I nodded again, looking back out to sea. "Yeah. Just remembering someone who isn't here anymore. She died in the invasion, really tore Nii-san apart." Sora nodded with a frown, then jumped as Jack slammed the door from the Captain's Quarters as we docked at Isla de Muerta. Lowering the boarding ramp, we all headed aground until Jack whirled on his heel. "Ah, you lads and lass wait here. Young Turner and I will rescue the lady." Sora pouted. "Hey! What about us!" Jack smirked, making me roll my eyes. "Why, you're to gaurd the ship of course. Tis a task given only to the bravest of pirates." Sora frowned as Will and Jack ran off, and I shook my head. "Well. That was quite the fast talk." Donald nodded, turning on Sora. "And you fell for it!" Sora huffed, plunking himself down on the boarding ramp. Fifteen minutes later, when Jack and Will still hadn't returned, he stood. "What's keeping those two?" Goofy frowned. "They sure are taking thier time..." I looked towards the cave, lacing my fingers under my chin. "If Pete's here, then there must be Heartless here too. And Jack and Will aren't used to fighting them, and certainly not used to having them pop outta the ground. We'd better go see whats keeping them." Sora nodded, and we all ran towards the Cave Mouth in time to see Will and Elizabeth running out from the Powder Store, with Pirates on thier heels. Sora summoned the Keyblade, waving Will and Elizabeth on. "We'll hold them off! Give us a sign when the ships ready to sail!" Will nodded, taking Elizabeths hand . "Right! We'll light the signal flare!" They ran off towards the Interceptor, and we turned to face the pirates. Most of them had swords drawn. but one of them had a loaded pistol in hand, and he seemed ready to fire it at a moments notice. I shook my head, knocking one sword wielding pirate over the head with my daggers hilt before sending a Fira spell flying at a pirate determined to chop off Goofy's arm. A loud bang made us all look up to the sky, and Sora smiled at the sight of the signal flare coming off the Interceptor. We turned our backs on the pirates and ran off, before Sora fell to the ground in a heap after an earsplitting crack. He went down clutching at his ankle, and Donald whirled on the pirate, casting a Blizzara spell as Goofy and I grabbed Sora and ran. Donald was quick on our heels, casting an Aeroga spell to get the Interceptor moving away from the Island as Will and Elizabeth hoisted the sails and raised the anchor. We boarded just in time, Goofy and I setting Sora down before turning and cutting a pirates arm as he tried to cling to the ship. Once we had dispatched him, I turned to Sora to see him yanking his shoe off with a wince. The bullet had mostly missed him, it was just a graze. But that graze had really spooked us all up and Sora was panting harshly as I cast Cure on his leg. He looked up to Will. "Where's Jack?" Will rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. "Well...you see Sora, I had to knock him unconcious to save Elizabeth. I'd take a guess that the pirates have him now." I scowled at Will, helping Sora stand as my friend glared at Will. Will bit his lip. "I had to, Sora. Jack's no fairy-taile pirate. The real ones aren't to be trusted." Sora huffed, crossing his arms as Will led Elizabeth into the Ship's hold. I stared after them for a moment, eyes narrowing. Something was wrong here. Something was very wrong. Will and Elizabeth returned after a few moments, with Will taking the helm of the ship. "We must return to the Port while the winds are still in our favor. Sora, Christie, please keep a lookout for any Pirates. We can't have them capturing this ship." Sora glared, miming Will's speech before I clasped his shoulder. "Let it go. We'll go back for Jack on Infinity later." Sora's eyes widened, but he nodded and headed towards the port railing to keep an eye on the sea. We were almost to the Port when Elizabeth cried out. "Will! Look!" We raced to what she was pointing at, and I cursed under my breath. It was the Black Pearl, and it was quickly gaining on us. Sora bit his lip. "I wonder what Jack would do..." Will looked at the Pearl, then at our measly stock of cannon balls and slim gaurding rails. We stood no chance of outrunning them either, and Will knew that. "I'm not sure. I suppose, that he'd make a run for it." We all ducked as a cannonball shot over our heads and across the ship. Sora chuckled nervously. "Sounds good to me! " But before we could get moving, another cannonball struck the Interceptor. While it didn't damage us much, it rattled the ship enough to tip Will overboard and into the sea. Elizabeth cried out. "Will!" Another cannon shot rang out, and I yanked Elizabeth down onto the deck just as it hit the ship once more. Sora picked himself off the ground, grabbing the Medallion from the deck as the Pearl came up alongside us . "We're just gonna have to fight!" I summoned my daggers as several pirates from the Pearl jumped aboard. We raced to knock them off into the water, but too may kept coming. After having far to many close calls with both the Medallion and his neck, Sora screamed. He raced to a loaded cannon and lit the fuse. The resulting explosion not only blew a hole right through the middle of a jumping pirate, but also right through the Pearl's main mast. At the sight of thier ship falling apart, all the remaining pirates raced back to the Pearl. Sora whooped. "We beat the pirates!" "Well now laddie, did you really?" We spun on a dime, stepping back to back as we caught sight of Barbossa holding Elizabeth and Jack hostage. "Jack!" The captain laughed nervously as Barbossa smirked at us, yellow teeth curved upward. "Now then, I'll be having that Medallion. Unless it's more important than thier lives?" I snarled at him, but said nothing as I heard the ropes next to Barbossa creak as Will climbed back up. "Barbossa!" Will, soaking wet, aimed a pistol at Barbossa. "She goes free!" Barbossa laughed. "Go ahead and shoot boy, we can't die!" Will smirked. "You can't. But I can!" Will released the safety latch on his pistol, holding it to his temple. Elizabeth cried out in terror and even Jack seemed scared for his "friend" "My name is William Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs through my viens!" Barbossa's eyes widened in surprise, and Will continued. Even as he spoke, he met my eyes for a moment, then nodded slightly. I tilted my head, but said nothing. "On my world, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker forever." Barbossa scowled. "Very well. Name your terms, Mr. Turner." Will frowned. This was too easy. Regardless, he wasn't losing this chance. "Release Elizabeth and Jack! And Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy too." Barbossa nodded. "Will there be anythin' else?" Will nodded. "Yes. Leave now!" Barbossa nodded and bowed. "Agreed. Leave we shall, but the Heartless stay!" Before any of us could react, we heard Pete laugh as he knocked Will out with an oar. Air Pirate Heartless began appearing as Pete ran off with Will under his arm. Before any of us could chase after him, the pirates had grabbed us from behind and tied our hands behind our backs. It took two pirates to cart Sora off as they knocked us into the Brig. Pete laughed. "Good work Barbossa! Who knew it'd be this easy?" Elizabeth snarled up at Barbossa. "Barbossa, you coward!" Sora struggled against his bindings, but only succeeding in rubbing his wrists red. "That's the last time I trust a pirate!" "Captain! The powder kegs are ready!" Barbossa laughed, then turned back to us. "Then I bid ye farewell!" Both Barbossa and Pete left our sights, and I heard the Pearl sail away before Donald cried out. "What are we gonna do?!" Jack sighed, letting his head drop to his chest. "Why struggle mate? We'd be better off just surrendering anyway." I snarled, summoning one of my daggers and slicing through the ropes holding us together. "Well, I'm not giving up yet. I've got someone very important to find. Dying now, I'd just let him down." I heaved Sora to his feet, before sending one of my daggers up onto the deck. It attracted the attention of the Heartless gaurd, and as soon as I'd caught sight of it, it was cast away into the void. Jack hoisted Sora onto his shoulders, and the boy quickly undid the lock holding us in the brig. I grabbed my dagger from the ground, before running to a lit keg of gunpowder and pushing it into the ocean before the fuse hit the powder. The boys handled the rest, and Jack's keg hit the water just in time. The massive explosion showered us all with seawater, and Jack just shook his dreadlocks as he ran up to the helm and set our course for the Isla De Muerta. Sora and I quickly heaved the sails into position as Donald cast a massive Aeroga spell that sped us along at a considerable speed. We docked quickly, and I grabbed Elizabeth by the arm as she tried to run after us, Jack turned, bouncing from one foot to another. "Christie's right! You'd best stay with the ship, Lass!" Elizabeth wrenched her arm free from my grasp, huffing. "I'll do no such thing!" I ran past her, shaking my head as she once more tried to follow. "Then trust me when I say that we'll bring him back alive!" Elizabeth frowned, but nodded after a moment's hesitation. "Very well. Christie, Sora, Goofy, Donald, bring Will back safely!" We ran for the caves, dodging Heartless and Pirates along the way to the Treasure Heap. We arrived just in time to catch the pirates cheering, and Sora laughed. "Treasure, mateys!" Barbossa's eyes widened in surprise, and he stepped back. "Not possible!" Donald smirked. "Not probable! We're alive, and we're pirates!" Jack smiled, drawing his sword. "Captain Jack Sparrow!" Sora summoned the Keyblade. "Sora!" I summoned my daggers "Christie!" Donald grabbed his staff. "Donald Duck!" Goofy grabbed his shield off his back. "And Goofy too!" Something to note. All the introductions had only taken less then half a minute, and Barbossa was not amused. "So, you want to play Pirates? Best save the playacting for the nursery. After them!" At his order, all the pirates in the room raced after us. We split up, knocking them out with magic or clocks over the head as Will stayed close to the chest. When they were all gone, he stood up and walked over to us as Sora insulted the running pirates. "Thank you, Sora, Christie." Goofy looked around. "Uh, where's Jack?" We all jumped as the clang of metal on metal rang out, and we turned to see Jack and Barbossa locked in a sword fight. Before I could stop him, Sora cried out. "Jack! Get him!" Jack's distraction cost him, and Sora gasped as Barbossa plunged his sword into Jack's chest. The Captain stumbled back into the moonlight, and I sighed in relief as he turned into a skeleton like form. He stared at his right hand for a moment, then at his left. A Medallion was bieng rolled between his knuckles, and Barbossa stepped back in fear. "Show yourself Pete! The tide has changed!" We jumped again as Pete appeared behind us. "See? I told ya you'd be needing old Pete!" He whistled, causing two Illuminator Heartless to come down the walls, beady yellow eyes glaring at us as they hopped to Barbossa's side. Absorbing all the light, they plunged the area into Darkness just as Jack wrenched Barbossa's sword out of his body. I clenched my daggers, closing my eyes. Remember what Riku taught you. See with your other senses, not with your eyes. Even as Sora and the other's were stumbling around, trying to find the Illuminators, I knew exactly where one of them was. Before Barbossa could even react accordingly, I'd thrown my dagger, embedding it into the head of one of the Illuminators. Sora stared for a moment, then whirled on his heel to catch Barbossa's sword with the Keyblade. "Guys! Hurry and find that Heartless!" We nodded, and I took a deep breath. Throwing my other dagger would be a mistake, so I relied on my Void attack to get rid of the Heartless just as Barbossa freed his sword from Sora's blade lock. Sora fell to the ground, and Barbossa laughed. "Be meeting your maker tonight boy!" The captain made to plunge his second blade into my friends body, but the clang of metal on metal suprised us all. Jack had come through, blocking Barbossa from hurting Sora. The look on Jack's face sent shivers up my spine, I'd never seen a glare like that on a human face. "No one, hurts my crew!" He lunged at Barbossa, forcing him into the back of the cave as Sora picked himself up off the ground. We ignored Pete as he ran off, and Jack kept the glare on his face. "Care to surrender now Barbossa?" Barbossa flaunted his sword. Jack rolled his eyes. "Well then, enough of this." He dropped his sword, drawing his pistol from it's holster on his thigh. "What say you, we call this a draw?" Barbossa smirked. "Jack, how many times do I have to tell ya---" Jack tossed the medallion still in his hand to Will, then shot Barbossa with the last of his bullets. Barbossa, not even feeling the tiny metal piece pierce him, laughed. But he stopped laughing when Will cried out. "Laugh while you can, Barbossa!" We turned to Will, just in time to see him drop two bloodstained medallions into the chest. We turned back to Barbossa as he clutched at the wound in his stomach. "I feel...cold." In a brief moment, it was over. Barbossa fell to the ground, lifeless. Jack shook his head, picking his sword off the ground and sheathing it. He lead us from the cave and back towards the makeshift docks. Will tilted his head. "What now Jack?" Jack smiled. "Whatever I want, now that the Pearl is mine again." Will nodded. "That she is. Thank you, Jack." He extended a hand in friendship, but Jack flinched, placing his hands above his head. "I didn't want ye hitting me again, mate." I stepped on Will's toe, putting on an innocent look as he frowned at me. That was more then enough payback for one night. Sora chuckled, then turned to Jack. "Hey, Jack. Good luck." Donald raised one wing. "And remember to be good!" Goofy and I shook our head. Not likely. Still, Jack nodded and waved goodbye. "Well, I'm off." He turned to head back towards the Pearl, then turned around and looked at Elizabeth with longing in his eyes as she tightly embraced Will, sending them both to the ground. Jack sighed, and Sora smiled. "Good for them." Goofy nodded, then turned to Sora and I. "Sora, Christie, how come your faces are all red?" I ducked my head, blushing further as Sora tried to deny it. Donald laughed. "Oh, I know who you two are thinking about!" Donald and Goofy laughed as I turned to Jack. The Captain was heading back towards the Pearl, compass in hand, when his suddenly started to glow. He cursed in surprise, dropping it as Sora raised the Keyblade. The wind that came smelled of hot desert sands, and felt much the same way. Agrabah... We waved goodbye to Will, Elizabeth and Jack before heading back to Infinity. Once on board, Sora crossed his arms and stopped midstep. "You know...for a minute there, I was afraid we were gonna lose Donald to the curse of the treasure." I had to laugh at the look on Donald's face as the duck snarled up at Sora and Goofy, the Duck chasing after his old companion as Sora settled into the co-pilots seat next to me. After setting our course for Agrabah, I settled back into my seat to try and sleep a little. After a moment, I drifted off to the sound of Donald and Goofy's laughter. ---- 15 year old Squall and 5 year old Christie, standing in the field of flowers as a funeral takes place. The girl clings to her brother's arm, head bowed as the tears run down her cheeks. Why did Headmaster Cid have to die? This wasn't fair. She stayed with Rinoa as her brother said his piece of the memorial, then let Squall carry her home. Dinner was a quiet affair, and Squall looked at his sister with worry in his eyes. "You all right?" Christie shook her head. "No. I don't want you to die Nii-san." Leon sighed. He understood now. Still silent, he stood and padded over to his little sister, kneeling down to be level with her. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Christie stared at him for a moment, then launched herself at his neck. Squall caught her quickly, burying his face into her hair. They needed time to grieve over the loss of the only man who had cared for them. But they still had eachother. And for now, that was enough. ---- Done. See you all in Agrabah!
I still ask. Is it a double post if more than a day has passed? Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ----- We arrived at Disney Castle in less than an hour, docking in the Gummi Hangar. Goofy and Donald were the first off the ship, racing up the stairs and out of the Hangar with us on thier heels. For all of Max's panic, there didn't seem to be a single Shadow in the Gardens. Becuase of that, I was uneasy. I stopped short as something metallic clanked under my foot. Bending down to pick it up, my breath hitched in my chest. It was a round blood spattered shield, with the initials "M.G." inscribed just to the right of the crest. This was Max's, I just knew it. The boys turned around, having noticed I wasn't following them, and I bit my lip as I handed the shield to Goofy. "I think, that this is Max's." Goofy stared in shock, taking the shield from my hands. After a moment of staring at it, he sighed in relief. "This isn't Maxie's. He uses another kind of shield." We all sagged in relief, and jumped at least a foot in the air as a Blizzara spell rang throughout the courtyard just behind us, sending chilled air at our backs. "There's more where that came from, you Heartless currs!" Donald's beak dropped to the ground, and he took off running towards the voice. He reached the top of the staircase in record time, and he stood beside another duck, this one female and wearing a purple dress. They cast spells in tandem, quickly wiping out the Heartless as we bolted up the stairs to reach them. A thrown, star shaped shield cut down the last Shadow lingering in the hall, and I could swear Goofy would have fainted from sheer relief as he caught sight of the teenager near the Library doors. "Everyone! This way!" We ran after Donald and Daisy, with Max and Sora slamming the doors closed just as Shadows began reappearing the hallway. Goofy whirled on his son the moment we were safe, taking him into his arms. "I thought....I thought I'd lost you...." Max awkwardly patted his father on the back. "It's ok Dad, I'm ok." Goofy nodded, letting go as he turned to us. "Sora, Christie, this is my son, Max." We waved hello, and I turned to Max. "It's a pleasure to meet you, but what was that explosion? It cut the radio signal to shreds." Daisy blushed, as the duck lady looked up at us. "That would have been my fault dearie. I'm afraid I don't have very good control over my Fira spells, and it hit a barrel of Gummi fuel. No one was hurt, but like you said, the radio signal was destroyed." Donald sighed, and we all turned around as a second door opened up behind us, letting Chip and Dale through. Behind them, came Queen Minnie. Her pink dress was soot stained and she looked exhuasted, but every bit as regal as her husband. She took in Donald and Goofy with sheer relief in her eyes, and an enchanted chair quickly came up behind her to keep her from falling. "You're here!" Donald, Goofy and Max saluted, leaving Sora, Daisy and I the odd ones out. After a moment of them just standing there, Sora spoke up. "Where's the King? Ow. Donald!" Donald had leapt up, pulling Sora down by his ear. "Excuse him your Majesty, this is our friend Sora. And she's Christie." Minnie gasped. "Oh, Sora, Christie! Mickey's told be all about you both in his letters. He said you're both very brave young people." Rubbing his ear, Sora turned to the queen. "So, do you know where the King is?" Minnie shook her head sadly, and we all sighed. Still, there was another issue at hand. I turned to the Queen. "Your Highness, what are Heartless doing here, inside the castle? The King always said they'd never manage to get in here." Minnie put one gloved hand to her mouth. "Oh my...So, those are the Heartless." Sora smiled, saluting. "Don't worry, we'll take care of them!" "I know I can count on you, Sora, Christie. No, there's something I'd like you all to come and see. Would you please escort me to the Audience Chamber?" We all saluted her, and she stood from the chair. All of a sudden, she gasped. "I forgot to warn everyone else in the Castle about the danger! We must be sure they're hidden somewhere safe!" Sora nodded. "Okay, we'll go tell them!" Minnie smiled in gratitude, but Donald grabbed onto Sora's pant leg before the boy could run off. "No Sora! You'll just get lost! Let Goofy and I do it." Sora frowned, but nodded. "Ok, then Christie and I will stay with the Queen." Minnie nodded to us as Donald and Goofy ran off, and she turned towards Max and Daisy. "Please, both of you wait here. I will return shortly." Max whipped off a salute as Daisy wrung her hands, and we exited the library. Soon as we'd left the safety of that room, we were jumped by a dozen Shadows. Sora raced forward, leaving me to kick through a Shadow that was jumping towards the Queen. With no time to summon my daggers, I was forced to rely on my firsts and feet to knock them away from Her Majesty. Sora quickly caught on to our distress and ran back to help, barely making it back in time to kill the last Shadow. With that done, Minnie raced to the Audience Chamber door. It was blocked off by a pale pink field of energy, with the Royal Crest set in the middle. "Just one moment. As soon as the trouble started, I made sure to seal this room away." She raised one hand, and the barrier broke like glass. The door unlocked with a click, and a smaller door opened up at the bottom, just our size. "Now then, shall we?" We entered the large chamber, and I summoned my Daggers as I sensed the Darkness coming. Minnie gasped, stepping back as hordes of Bolt Tower's floated down from the cieling. "Not here too!" Sora snarled, batting away a Bolt Tower's head as it got too close. We tried hard, but there were just too many of them coming. I threw my dagger at one, killing it and groaning as three more took it's place. At least Minnie was holding her own, her Holy Spells were knocking any Heartless that got too close to the floor. Sora came up behind me, his back against mine. "I've got an idea. But I don't know if it'll work..." I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. "At this point Sora, I'm willing to try anything." He smiled slightly, then curled into himself. I closed my eyes, letting my Daggers fall as I was pulled into Sora. It was almost like a Soul Bond, I could feel his emotions and see through his eyes. His clothes had changed again, and from what I could see, they had changed to a shade of Royal Purple I'd seen nowhere else. He raised one hand, calling back the Keyblade as my Daggers spun around him. When he struck out at the Heartless, they moved with a mind of their own, seeking out and destroying any Heartless that got in the way. We raced for the throne, and Sora whirled on one heel, throwing his hand out to make my Dagger's mimic the gesture. But time wasn't on our side, and the Drive ended just as more Bolt Towers dropped from the cieling. Sora and I were both panting harshly, and I could feel my legs shaking beneath me. Sora frowned, keeping one eye turned to the Heartless as he backed up. "Come on, give us a break already!" I could vaguely hear Minnie run to the throne and push a button, and barely managed to cover my eyes with my arms as Light flooded from the Hall of the Cornerstone below us. While it also killed the Bolt Towers, it was also the final straw my body could take. Sora yelped, catching me by my arms as my legs gave out beneath me, and I smiled away his concern. "I'm fine Sora, go help the Queen." He nodded, but pulled me up all the same. Even after I'd stood on my own, he kept one hand on my arm, just in case. "The Room below is called the Hall of the Cornerstone. Our castle has always been safe from the worlds that are evil, thanks to the Cornerstone of Light, which is kept down there." Sora tilted his head. "The Cornerstone...of Light?" He shook his head, and we raced after the Queen as she headed down into the Hall. I looked around with a heavy heart. All these thorns, this was Maleficent's doing alright." The Cornerstone was set in the very middle of the room, a ball of Pure Light spinning in the center. It hurt to look at for too long, so I turned to examine the thorns. "This is the castle's cherished Cornerstone. But look. The thorns. They must be the work of someone very evil. I wonder what this could mean..." All of a sudden, she jumped back as a burst of green flame suddenly manifested itself in front of her, forming a translucent image of Maleficent. Donald and Goofy, having just come down the stairs, cried out. "Maleficent!" Sora shook his head, stepping back in shock. "No way...." Maleficent turned, taking us all in. "Well, well, well. What have we here? If it isn't the wretched Keyblade Bearer, the Koukennin no Ariake, and thier pitiful lackeys!" Donald seethed at the insults. But weather he was mad at Maleficent for insulting him or insulting Sora, I'd never know. "What?! No you're gonna deal with me!" He made to leap at her, but I grabbed him around the middle before he could. I struggled to hold the duck as he twisted and turned in my arms. "Donald! Calm down! She's not really here!" Donald looked up, then stopped his fussing. I put him down, and glared at Maleficent as she laughed. "Yes, you always were the smart one Christina. Always keeping Riku in line. Where is he? Don't tell me your young love has perished in battle!" Both Sora and I glared at her fiercely, my friend summoning the Keyblade as his eyes flashed amber. "Shut up, or I'll kill you!" Maleficent smirked cruelly. "All in good time. I promise you'll be able to partake of my vengeance soon enough. But you must be patient." Minnie had enough, and she called out to the evil witch. "Just what are you doing here, Maleficent!" "Ah, Minerva darling. Radient as always." She bowed, and Minnie narrowed her eyes as we looked to her. Minerva? I turned my focus back to Maleficent as she stood up straight once more. "I'm here on a property venture. I want this castle for my own. However, it's a bit too "bright" for what I have in mind. I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my personal touch of Darkness." She turned, trying to touch the Cornerstone. It however, rejected her hand with a hiss of smoke. Minnie clenched her fists. "You'd better stop right now if you know what's good for you!" Maleficent cackled. "Ooh, how threatening. Very well, I'll stop. Just as soon as this castle belongs to me!" She raised her arms, disappearing in another plume of green flames. Sora spat. "What a hag. When I get my hands on her..." I put my hand on his shoulder, shaking my head as Minnie walked up to the Cornerstone. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. I looked through all the records in the Library, but could not find a single clue." Goofy snapped his fingers. "Oh! We should go ask somebody who knows lotsa stuff that isn't in any book!" Donald nodded vehemently. "Merlin the Wizard!" Minnie sighed in relief. "Yes, that's perfect! Surely Merlin will know something about this mess. Let's ask his advice. Christina, I'd like you to stay here. We need to speak of something the King told me." I nodded, waving to the boys as they headed onto the Transport Beacon. As soon as they were gone, I settled onto the staircase to listen to the Queen. She sat beside me, placing a hand on my arm. "Now dear, you must understand. Mickey and I have been over every record of the Four Lights Prophecy we can find, for clues as to what the Koukennin no Ariake is supposed to do. What we found, was not pleasent in the slightest." I tilted my head. "I know that the Koukennin no Ariake is supposed to protect the wielder of the Dawn with all they have, but what's unpleasent about that?" Minnie sighed. "Dear, the last Koukennin no Ariake, she died to protect the Dawn Wielder. As did every other Koukennin, no matter their charge. It is a seemingly unavoidable fate." I turned away, letting my breath out shakily. I shook my head. "If that's true, than I'll face that when the time comes. I..I'm willing to give my own life to protect Riku, if that's the cost." Minnie looked at me sadly. "Mickey warned me you'd say that. He said you'd do anything to protect Riku, even if it meant losing your own life." She sighed, letting her breath out as she gathered her thoughts. "Now, I daresay you've a question of your own?" I smiled sheepishly, gesturing to the Cornerstone. "Maleficent, she called you Minerva. Did you...know eachother?" Minnie nodded, playing with one ruffled skirt. "Yes. You see Christie, I wasn't born into Royalty like my Husband, I was born and raised on the streets. Molly and I, that was her name, used to be the closest of friends. But after Mickey and I met, she became jealous. There was I, with a one-way ticket off the streets forever. I could finally care for my family the way I'd always wished too. But there she was, bieng left behind on the slums of a World that was far too cruel. I tried to keep in touch with her, after the marriage, but she never answered my letters. I asked her father if she was angry with me, and he told me that she'd left this world a day after the wedding. I didn't see her again until she tried to overthrow Mickey. She almost killed him that day, with Black Magic beyond even her control." Minnie took a deep breath, then continued. "That day, she told me that she was no longer Molly, but rather, Maleficent. Our happy street days were over, as was our friendship. But still, I saw some of my dear friend in her eyes just now. Perhaps, Molly is still in there." I nodded, lacing my fingers together in my lap. "I think you're right. When I was working under her for a short while, I sensed something inside her. I don't think that Molly ever changed, I just think that she's been taken over by the Darkness. If that's true, then you might be able to get her back someday." Minnie smiled up at me gratefully, and we both stood as Sora, Donald, Goofy and Merlin appeared in the Room. Donald was still blabbering on, not noticing they'd returned here. "Perhaps, I'd just better see for myself Donald." Donald fumed as Merlin walked past him to examine the Cornerstone, with Minnie walking up to him. "What's happening, Merlin?" Merlin narrowed his eyes. "This is not good. In fact, I'm afraid it's quite serious." He cleared his throat, chanting something before a door appeared behind Sora. The boy yelped, jumping a foot in the air. "What the!?" "My boy, that is the gateway to a very special world. Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I'm certain." Donald and Goofy whopped in delight at the discovery of a way to find the cause of this mess, and Sora placed on hand on the handles to heave open the doors. But Merlin cried out before he could do so. "Just a moment! The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there's something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemines are using that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger. Listen carefully Sora. You must find that door. And when you do, lock it tight with your Keyblade." Sora nodded, and was about to heave open the doors again when Merlin raised a hand. Sora sagged, rolling his eyes. "You're heading into a very special world. While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you ro do something Dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!" Sora tilted his head. Now Merlin had his attention. "What do you mean?" Merlin simply smiled. "You'll know soon enough. I've faith in you!" Sora quirked a brow, but heaved open the door. We stepped through, and were spit out on the other side. The world we landed in was black and white, almost staticky. Goofy got up first, pointing to something on the hill above us. "Hey, look! There's the Cornerstone of Light!" Sora walked over to it, then caught sight of himself. "What's going on? Everythings, black and white!" He shook his head, rubbing his ears. I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not just you, everything's echoing." Donald and Goofy cried out as someone walked behind us, and we turned around. "Hey you! Seen any bad guys around here?" I gaped at the sight of the Old!Pete, but laughed at the look on his face as the boys all pointed at him. He snarled. "Why I oughta...Bah! I don't have time to deal with you punks! I guess I'll go easy on ya!" He ran off towards the Pier, and Sora screwed up his face. "Well, at least we found our villain." I crossed my arms over my chest. "No, I don't think so. That wasn't the Pete that we ran into in the Underworld. Merlin said this was a special world, and I think he's right." The boys watched as I stooped over, picking up a sign that we had tipped over when we arrived. "Construction site of Disney castle, circa 1920. We're almost 90 years in the past." Three pairs of eyes widened, and Donald snatched the sign from my hands. He stared at it, before we all jumped as a steamboat whistle rang in the air. Captain Pete ran from the Pier, heading for the Shore. Sora ran after him, despite my protests. Goofy and I shared a look, and we ran after the boy, leaving Donald behind as he stared at the sign. We entered the shore, just in time to see Sora apologising to Pete for the accusation earlier. "Ok, if we can find your boat, will you forgive us?" Pete crossed his arms, but nodded and extended a hand to Sora. "You've got yourself a deal Shrimp. Find me my boat, and I'll forget that you ever called me a bad guy." They shook hands, and Sora ran past us back towards the Cornerstone Hill. Barely having had time to catch up before we'd run into the Peir, Donald and Sora now crashed into one another, tumbling head over heels toward the edge of the river. Unable to stop their forward momentum, both of them tumbled into the shallows before Pete grabbed them out of the water with both hands. They coughed and sputtered as he set the down on the docks, with Goofy and I running over to our friends. Pete waved away any thanks we tried to give him, and walked away. After a few moments, Sora and Donald were able to stand again, and we headed back towards the Cornerstone Hill. Once there, Sora did a double take at the sight of the Past Curtain, just floating there. "What's this?" We walked over to it, and Sora tilted his head. "I can't see a thing...Maybe..." He pulled the Drawstring hanging just off to the side, opening the curtain. ---- Four small doors surrounded the Cornerstone, letting the Heartless in as another door bounces behind them. It swings open, spitting out Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy. Goofy stands first. "Hey, look! There's the Cornerstone of Light!" Sora walked over to it, then stood ramrod straight in shock. "Hey, what's going on? Everythings all black and white." He blinked, then rubbed his ears to try and rid himself of the echoes. Christie's hand on his shoulder made him stop. ----- We had watched the video with wide eyes, and now Sora was still staring at the Past Curtain. "What...was that?" Goofy tilted his head. "Heartless goin' out..." "And us coming in...What does this mean?" Donald shook his head, jumping to pull the drawstring. But the curtain didn't open, and we were left with four more Past Curtains floating above the grass. Sora frowned, and we headed towards the Construction Site curtain. Goofy pulled the string, and we found ourselves on top of the main wooden board. Sora peered over the edge, stepping back as he saw just how high over the edge we were. "What are they building so high up?" Goofy turned to the boy to answer his question, then yelped in shock as Hammer Fram began to drop onto Sora from above. But before Sora could either roll away or we could destroy the Heartless, Mickey suddenly came flying in on a rope hung from some scaffolding. He knocked the Heartless away from Sora, then ran off across a few beams. Donald's squawk caught me off gaurd, and I flinched at the feel of a strong spell bieng cast behind me. We all whirled around, just in time to see two Hammer Frames being pulled into a Dark Portal. I blinked in shock, then looked at the boys. They shook thier heads, that hadn't been them...We had no more time to think on the situation, for more Hammer Frames and Bombs began to appear. We leapt into action, and as soon as the last one had been destroyed, we ended up back at the Cornerstone Hill. The Past Curtain we'd just gotten thrown out of was open now, and we stared deep into it. -- Maleficent was very angry. She whirled on Pete "You absolute idiot! You've managed to fail at everything! And what's more...you foolishly thought you could take my place while I was away. Well, as of now you're finished. Mark my words, there'll be no place for you when our time comes." Pete, still in shocked, let his jaw drop. But-but...but I...." ---- "What the...." "Someone sure was pissed off." Donald crossed his arms. "I don't get it." Sora shook his head. "Let's just clear out all these Heartless first. This place is okay now, but we've got three more places left to check." The next Past Door let us into Lilliput, a town that was more miniature than most of the worlds we'd been too. Donald's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" Sora stepped forward, then shook his foot out. He'd stepped in a river. "Did, the town shrink or something?" Goofy crossed his arms. "Or do ya think that maybe we got bigger?" We didn't answer these questions, but instead followed Sora's gaze at the tower in the center of town. He bent at the waist, smiling childishly. "Hey, look at all these toy cannons!" He suddenly jumped back at the sight of the King jumping around, trying to catch our attention. "What's he saying?" We all yelped, ducking as Aeroplanes flew over our heads. Summoning my daggers, I threw them after the planes, I only hit one, but it was enough. With the loss of it's wing, that plane hit the others in a chain reaction. The resulting explosion sent them all crashing to a heap in the lake, and the King raced to our side. He shook Sora's hand violently, making the boy's body move up and down. But he ran off before we could get a word in edgewise, and we were once again transported to the Cornerstone Hill --- Pete clutched his head in his hands. "Aw, for crying out loud. She didn't have to say that. Okay, I mighta messed up every now and then. But I'm a lot more things than useless. Why, when I was startin out....I miss the good old days...what I wouldn't give to go back in time...What I wouldn't give. Huh?" Pete looked up at the sound of a chime. A door had appeared directly in front of him. He stood, and peeked his head through it. "Hey..I think that's my old....!" ---- Sora crossed his arms, scowling. "A door? It did look familiar...." I nodded. "Yeah. Merlin made that door, it's how we got here." Tilting his head, Sora turned to me. "Which means it should come straight here, right?" We nodded to the boy, and he turned to face the two remaining Past Curtains. We started coughing the second we were through this one, the night air was filled with thick smoke. Once we'd stopped coughing, we caught sight of the King running in full panic right in front of the doors to the burning building as fire engines tried to draw water from the river nearby. Sora summoned the Keyblade, throwing it in a Strike Raid to cut down a Heartless that had been aiming for the King. The tiny monarch ran into the nearest fire truck, leaving us to handle the Heartless. Unfortunatly, these weren't easy to handle. Shaped like cars and with a vengeance streak bigger than Cloud's, they were annoying to hit. Couple that with the fact they wouldn't stop going for Sora, and I was getting mighty pissed off. After he'd been tossed to the ground again, I'd had enough. I whirled on the Heartless, left hand palm out. "You keep away from him!" I don't know how it happened, but a Dark Portal suddenly opened beneath the Heartless, sending them headlong into the Void. As the firemen began to get the fire under control, I stared at my hand with wide eyes. I'd been trying to summon a Dark Aura blast, but it didn't work as planned. Sora limped over, supported by Goofy's arm. He cleared his throat, catching my attention. As I looked up, he smiled. "Thanks. I'd be long gone if not for those Portals." It took my brain a moment to connect what he'd said with the feeling of relief, but when it did, we were transported back to the Cornerstone Hill. ---- "Fascinating. This appears to be a Portal to the past!" "Yeah, it was the strangest thing!" "Stop gawking! And start thinking about how we can use this to our advantage." "Okay." "Now, Pete, I suppose I could give you one more chance to redeem yourself." "Oh, thank you, thank you! You can count on me! So, um, what do I do?" "Patience my dear Pete. What have we here? Well, if it isn't the Cornerstone of Light. Now we can take the castle from those fools. But we'll have to proceed with the utmost caution." ---- Donald fumed, stomping the grass beneath his feet flat. "Maleficent! She must have known all along!" Goofy, trying to placate his friend, crossed his arms. "Let's see....If that door's connected to the past..." Goofy cried out if pain as Donald kicked him in the shin. "No, no, no! It comes here!" Sora and I stared at the angry Duck. "Huh?" "We're in the Past! And if we're in the past....we can change the future!" Donald's face took on a cunning look, as he rubbed his wings together. I shook my head, both hands up. "Whoa! Hold it Donald! Remember what Merlin said? He's got faith in us, and we have to resist temptation no matter what." Donald pouted. "Aw, I was only joking Christie." I wasn't convinced, but said nothing else as Sora crossed his arms behind his back. "Who's wanna change the future anyway? So, now what do we do?" Goofy put his head in his hands. "Doors, bad guys....gawrsh, my brain hurts!" Donald smiled. "Well, we know we're on the right track!" We turned to the last Past Curtain, and were transported into Mickey's living room. The main difference this time? Oh, I'd said the black hole in the center of the room, drawing the furniture into it. The King ran around, trying to hold onto a few things, but was only getting dragged in himself. Sora summoned the Keyblade, running into the fray as Rapid Thruster's began appearing, aiming for the King. We cut them down with little trouble, and I smiled as the King once more shook Sora's hand. Donald and Goofy watched the King run off, before we all jumped as we were transported back to the Cornerstone Hill for the last time. ---- "Listen well. On the other side of this portal, they are about to begin construction on that wretched castle. But until then, thier treasured Cornerstone of Light lies unguarded, with all of it's power still contained!" "The Cornerstone...or Light?" "Yes! That cursed sphere is the very thing that prevents us entering the castle." "Oh." "You know what must be done?" "Uh..." "Go then. Time to prove your worth. And don't dare fail me again!" "Don't fail her again...let's see....That's it! I just gotta smash that Cornerstone to smithereens! But first...I gotta get my old boat back!" ---- Sora was scowling harshly, teeth bared. "It was Pete after all!" "Why, he tricked us!" I shook my head. "No, I don't think so...something seems off about this whole thing." Sora tilted his head. "Yeah...The Pete we met here has a bit of an attitude problem, but he's an okay guy. Donald and I do both owe him for pulling us out of the water...." As if on a cue, Donald pointed to the real Pete as he laughed. "Now that castle's as good as ours!" He ran towards the waterway, and Sora snapped his fingers. "That's the Pete we know!" Something was off, even as Donald gloated...was it suddenly easier to breath..? Oh no... I whirled on my heel, crying out in unison with Goofy. Sora turned at our cries, and he stepped back in shock. "The Cornerstone's gone! That means that they'll..!" He took off running, not wanting to finish his sentence. We ran after him, towards the Waterway as Captain Pete was entering the area. He shoved us out of the way. "Sorry runts, but I finally found the fool who stole my poor boat!" He ran off into the Waterway, with us firmly on his heels. When we got there, both Pete's were fighting over the Steamboat. Behind the little craft, the Cornerstone was locked up tight. Pete shoved the Captain away from him, mounting the boat. "Your future's on the line pallie, so shut up and gimme the boat!" Before I could stop him, Donald cried out, catching Pete's attention. He turned, and saluted with a laugh. "You mugs couldn't follow me if you wanted to! Later losers!" Sora summoned the Keyblade, hitting back a pot that Pete was throwing at us. It knocked him upside the head, and the boat spun out of control, running aground on the shore nearby. Sora leapt for the crane that held the Cornerstone's cage, slicing at the wooden bars. But before he could finish the job, Pete came too. He caught sight of Sora, and leapt from the boat. He began to shake the crane, and Sora hung on for dear life, lest he fall right onto one of Pete's bombs. We were too busty with the Heartless to notice Sora's distress until right before he'd have fallen, but Captain Pete came to the rescue, tackling his future counterpart away from Sora long enough for him to free the Cornerstone and hop down safely. With his plan thwarted, Pete stomped the ground and ran for the Wharf, knocking Donald and Goofy away as he ran for it. As they picked themselves up, Sora and I ran after Pete, arriving just in time to see him summoning the Door to make a quick exit. Sora, not willing to let him get away, leapt at the man, getting batted aside as easily as a shadow. Sora crashed into the wall of a nearby building, landing in a moaning, groaning heap. Pete laughed, and made his getaway. By the time Sora was up, the Door was beginning to vanish. Shaking off the cobwebs, Sora quickly sealed the Keyhole. With the wind that came, I smelled alcohol and heard gunshots. Port Royal.... Captain Pete turned to us. "Would somebody please tell me what's been going on here? Who was that creep anyway?" Sora scowled, pointing at Captain angrily. "Hello! That was you from the--!" Goofy covered Sora's mouth, cutting off the boys words. "Sora, that's a secret!" Pete's ears perked up. "Secret? What kinda secret? Oh, never mind. Sorry I caused you guys so much trouble." Donald shook his head. "Yeah, well, just don't make a habit out of it." Sora and Goofy laughed, before Sora clutched at his head in pain. When he removed his hands, the black gloves had blood splattered on them. Sora, still staring at his gloves, didn't notice as we headed back to the Cornerstone Hill. Donald, trying to lighten the situation, rubbed his wings together. "As long as we're here...." Goofy and I whirled on the Duck. "Donald!" We grabbed him by the wings, and began dragging him through the open door. Sora stumbled along after us, and I caught him by the shoulder as he stumbled through on the other side of the doorway. With all of us back in our own time, the door faded away. I winced as my eyes adjusted to the now bright light of the Hall, I can't stand white rooms anymore. "Welcome back! Becuase of your bravery, the castle is safe and protected again. Thank you so much for all you've done!" As Donald and Goofy basked in Minnie's praise, Sora clutched at his head. I put one hand on his back, concerned. "Sora, you ok?" He shook his head with a wince. All of a sudden, his eyes rolled back up into his head, and he would have fallen to the ground had Merlin not suddenly appeared next to me, helping support Sora's weight. Minnie gasped at the small amount of blood on the floor, and she followed a drop back up to the cut on Sora's forehead. She turned to Chip and Dale. "Quickly! Prepare a room and summon a Healer! Go!" They saluted, and ran off up the stairs as Merlin and I laid Sora down. I moved his spikes away from the cut, trying to keep the fear from my heart. Concussions, and other wounds, were bound to happen to us all. War isn't easy. And it doesn't play nice. ---- Sora awoke with a groan, putting one hand on his head. What had happened? Oh, right. He'd literally passed out in Christie's arms after a bonk on the head. What an embarassment he was sometimes. He laid back on the bed he must have been placed on, letting his eyes adjust to the moonlight streaming in through the window. He wondered where Christie was. Was she asleep now? He jolted up as a joyous cry sounded from the gardens, and he stumbled to the open balcony doors. Sora smiled at the sight of Christie running to a cloaked figure. But the figure's hood was down, and he could see silver hair from up on his perch. Sora didn't pride himself on any straight A's, but he knew somethings when they happened. Like now, in the gardens below, Riku was having a very happy reunion with his girlfriend, even if it was only for one night. Sora's face broke with a massive grin as Riku spun her around. Christie laughed, hugging his best friend, no, his brother, around the shoulders tightly. He returned the embrace, and Sora looked to the sky as they kissed searching for the star he knew was Destiny Islands. After a moment of reaching out with his Heart, he found it. It was the closest star, twinkling a pale yellow against the navy sky. Sora smiled sadly. "Goodnight Kairi. Sleep well, my princess." Sora turned on his heel, and returned to bed, dreaming of the day the four of them could be together and happy once more. Little did he know, that day wasn't as far off as he thought. ---- A/N: Done. I'd planned the Reunion scene with Christie and Riku so many different ways, that you don't want to know. One idea I had was Sora and Christie sparring in the Gardens, and Riku coming in unexpectedly. Another Idea was Christie stargazing, and Riku sneaking up on her from behind. None of them worked out alright, so I settled for the middle road. Sora watching his friends from the balcony. It worked, I like it, and we're done for now. Hope you liked! Silver
I do too Jap, I do too. -- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- We left Hollow Bastion the next morning, after Sora had gotten some decent sleep and we'd all eaten something better then rehydrated meals from Infinity's supplies. Goodbyes went quickly, and we were off into space once more. The route to the Coliseum was full of ship debris, and it gave Infinity trouble. She was barely holding a steady orbit when she beamed us down, so I'm not surprised that we ended up below ground instead of near the main gates. Sora looked around confused, while Goofy and Donald wandered around. "Are you sure this is the Coliseum?" I nodded, gesturing towards the stairs. "We landed a bit off, but we're in the right place at the right time." Sora turned, tilting his head. He jumped a foot in he air as Meg screamed, running from the door that lead to the Cave of the Dead with Rabid Dogs on her heels. We ran over that way, and the dogs turned tail and ran. Meg picked herself up off the ground, and Sora offered a hand. "Thanks, but I'm fine." She stood, dusting off her dress as she looked at us suspisciously. "And you four are supposed to be who?" "I'm Sora, he's Donald, he's Goofy, and that's Christie. We came to check on Hercules." Meg raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "You know Wonderboy?" Donald nodded, tapping his chest with a smug look in his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause we're heroes too! Well, except for Christie..." He backed off a step when I sent a glare his way, but I just shook my head as Meg laughed. "Look's like we've got a friend in common. Name's Megara, but my friends call me Meg." Sora nodded, then looked towards the stairs. "So, how's Herc?" "Wonderboy? Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every single day. You know, "A heros work is never done" and all that crap. He's ready to drop and never get up, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy's got his limits though. These opponents are bad news, deliveries from Hades himself." I nearly spit out the water I'd been drinking, but swallowed in time for Donald's reaction. "HADES?!" Meg nodded. "Right. Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him now. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather for a week or dozen. If anything happens to him...." Meg looked at the stairs, something in her eyes. I shook my head. "It sounds to me like you and Hercules are more than just friends." Meg jumped, blushing crimson red. "Oh...uh, I mean..." Sora smiled. "We'll go talk with Hades for you. I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him." Meg's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline as she stood rigid in surprise. "You'd really do that? Well, it does look like you know what you're all getting into. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But, let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, ok?" Sora nodded. "Our lips are sealed!" Meg headed back towards the stairs to return to the upper level, while we headed into the Cave of the Dead. I rubbed my arms, it was cold here. With the curse of the Underworld, I couldn't hear Greiver at all, so if we got into trouble with Cerberus, I wouldn't be able to summon him to help us. I shook the thought from my head as Demyx ran in front of our vision. "The Organization!" Sora nodded, and we ran after him as the boy led the way through the tunnels. Sora stopped suddenly as a Lancer appeared in front of him, then faded into the ground. He stared at it strangely, Keyblade in hand. "What the heck was that?" I snapped my fingers. "Heartless don't like the cold! They can't stand it any better than we can, but they can leave." Sora nodded, and we entered the Inner Chamber. I summoned my daggers as Demyx ran at us, but he didn't attack, just ran for the stairs. "Run! Run away!" Sora screwed up his face in confusion "Okay...." Donald sneezed, the cold was getting to him too. As the Duck kept sneezing, we proceeded into the Valley of the Dead. Sneezing fit over, Donald shivered. Goofy stayed close to his friend. "I'm scared too Donald." Sora glared at the little room at the top of the stairs, walking to the edge of the ledge. "Hades, come out!" The Lord of the Underworld made no sign than he'd heard us, and Sora growled. He led the way across the bridges, only to fall face first onto the ground as something tripped him up. He sat up, rubbing his ankle. I kneeled down next to him keeping one ear focused below us. There it was! I stabbed one dagger into the soft ground, and there was a screech. A plant Heartless popped out of the ground, looking mighty pissed off. A Fire Spell from Donald finished it off before it could attack, and Sora huffed. "Great. I get tripped up by a weed. If Riku knew he'd never let me hear the end of it." I giggled, helping my friend up as we continued into Hades chambers. Once there, Sora raced into action, jumping in front of a red lump on the floor. I knew that so called 'lump' was Auron, and Sora called ober his shoulder as he reflected one of Hades' fireballs. "Get up!" Sora cried out, knocking the fireball back to it's creator. Goofy and I grabbed Auron under his shoulders, pulling him from the ground as Sora and Donald tried to knock Hades away. After a minute, they stepped back, looking very woozy. Sora shook his head, rubbing eyes that were darting in and out of focus. Donald stumbled back, landing on his rear end as he weakly clutched his staff. "Something's wrong." Hades smirked. "That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes. Comes with the territory." He gathered energy into his hands, and charged at Sora and Donald. All of a sudden, Auron was in front of them, cleaving down with his massive sword to make Hades back off. It worked, and Auron turned to Sora. "Go now!" Sora shook his head, trying to get my hand off his shoulder as I tried to drag him out of the room. "But we've got to talk to Hades!" Hades plugged his ears, pretending not to hear Sora. "What was that?" Sora snarled, charging at Hades before Auron grabbed him on the arm. "We can't fight him here! We have to go---now!" Auron tried to pull Sora out of the room, but the teen wouldn't budge. Auron snarled, grabbing Sora in a firemans carry and running from the room. Donald and Goofy left the room last, and we raced to shut the door as Auron set Sora down. The huge doors shut with a bang, and we leaned against them as we tried to catch our breath. Donald shook his head. "Is he gone?" "Don't count on it." Sora ceased glaring at Auron for a moment, and furrowed his brow. "What?" The boy and I yelped in tandem as Hades appeared right next to me, and I jumped away. "Going somewhere?" We took off down the slope, evading Creeper Plants and Large Bodies. Sora was tripped up a second time by a Creeper Vine, and rolled to a stop without getting up. Auron raced back, picked up the boy in another firemans hold, and we raced for the Inner Chamber. Auron set Sora down against the wall, and the boy groaned as he returned to conciousness. He looked up at Auron. "You're really good. Are you some kind of hero?" Auron shook his head. "No. I'm no hero. I'm just an..." Sora tilted his head, confused. Auron smiled slightly, just an upturn of one corner of his mouth. "Auron." Goofy and Sora shared a look of confusion, and Auron sighed. "Zicd mega Tidus..." Sora snapped up at the sound of his friends name, only to sway and fall over again. I clicked my tongue, holding up two fingers in front of his face. "How many fingers am I holding up?" Sora blinked, squinting. "Um...four?" I sighed, and Auron handed me a small vial filled with a clear liquid. "Eye Drops. Clear his eyes, we have to keep moving. Two in each eye." He walked off into the Passage of the Dead, leaving us behind. I stared after him a moment, then uncorked the vial. Both Sora and I screwed up our noses at the harsh chemical smell, and Donald and Goofy backed off, hands on their faces. Sora sighed, then tilted his head back. I understood, and followed Auron's instruction of two per eye. Sora winced at the chill of the liquid, and managed to stand without falling over this time. Auron was clearing Heartless from our path when we entered the Passage, and I frowned. He fought with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I knew that wasn't so far off. He cleaved a rogue Shadow into two, then turned to us. "The way is clear, come." Sora nodded, and let Auron lead the way into the Chamber of the Dead. We started to run as we got closer to the entrance, but Donald came to a stop as he almost ran headfirst into the massive doors. "What? It's closed." The boys tried to open it by force, and I stood back. Donald backed away from the door, and pointed up at the Keyhole that was there. Sora nodded, summoning his blade as Auron stood beside him. "Will that open it?" Sora nodded. "I think so." We all jumped as Cerberus roared behind us, and Auron grabbed his blade. "Hurry!" Sora nodded, raising the Keyblade to unlock the door just as Cerberus arrived in the chamber, drool strings falling from his jaws. The doors unlocked, Donald and Goofy ran through the doors with Cerberus at thier heels. Auron shoved his blade into the middle heads tounge, making it rear back in pain and howl. As Cerberus tried to regain it's mind, Auron shoved us through the doors. Sora and I shared a look, then ran back into the Chamber even as Donald and Goofy cried out to us. We stood close to Auron, weapons drawn as Cerberus roared at us. We leapt aside as the heads snapped at us, and Sora jumped over it's tail and onto Cerberus' back with a yell. Auron stared after him, good eye filled with shock before he shook it off and began to slash at the head on the right. I took the head on the left, slashing at it's visible eye and tounge. Auron and I were forced back as the heads began to snap at us, trying to get to Sora. The almost succeeded, and Sora's Keyblade clattered to the ground as the heads caught him between thier collective jaws. Sora was left pinned between all three heads, until they launched him up into the air. The middle head opened it's jaws to catch the falling boy, and got a mouthful of fireballs for it's trouble. As it shook the burning out of it's tounge, the left and right heads began squabbling over who would eat Sora, and said boy crashed to the ground in a heap. Auron and I were at his side in an instant, pulling the boy from the ground and shoving him to the barrier. Auron drew his blade in front of us, and snarled at Cerberus. "Come and get some good meat, you damn mutt!" Sora snapped awake, and I yelped and jumped back as instead of sky blue eyes I'd come to know, there was cold amber in his face. Sora curled into himself, cried out in pain, then disappeared in a flash of black. He raced past Auron, and in less than a moment, Cerberus was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, viens in his neck having been cut to shreds by claws to big to have been Heartless. Sora, or something like him, was standing on the edge of the pool, blood dripping from his claws. Auron drew his sword as I came to stand beside him. "Is that....Sora?" I shook my head. "No. That's Anti-Form. Sora's Darkness made real." As if on cue, Anti turned around and hissed at us, dropping on all fours like a cat. He spat at us, and I summoned my daggers. We stared at eachother for a long moment, before he left the edge of the blood pool and walked closer. In a flash of light, the real Sora was standing there, looking very confused. He blinked, eyes wide and confused at the lack of any roaring. He turned before I could stop him, and his hands flew to his mouth. He backed away from Cerberus, before turning and kneeling over the ground as his lunch made a return appearance. I kneeled beside him, hand on his back as Auron stared at the damage one teenage boy had done to a three headed dog ten times his size. Sora wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, standing on shaky legs. I kept one hand on his back as we left the dying Cerberus in the Chamber behind us. Donald and Goofy stared at Sora for a moment, before Goofy took Sora's arm as the boy fell unconcious. Auron stopped at the gates, nodding up to the stairs. "Take him to get some rest, you'll speak with Hades later." I nodded, waving goodbye over my shoulder as we trekked up the stairs. Hercules was just coming out of the Arena proper as we came up the stairs, and he called over his shoulder. "Phil! Get a bed ready!" Hooves clopped on stone steps for a moment as the tiny satyr came running to see what his student was yelling about, but jumped a foot in the air and raced back inside. Hercules ran down the stairs and took Sora gently from Goofy and I as Meg came out the door, pressing herself against the wall as Hercules ran inside with Sora. I shook my head as Meg opened his mouth, and she sighed. We entered the lobby, and Phil called us over and into some kind of locker room, where Hercules was setting Sora down onto a bed. The demi-god turned, hands on his hips as he stared down at me. "And you must be Christie. Sora's told me an awful lot about you." I rubbed the back of my neck in embarresment for a moment, before he smiled and extended a hand. "I'm Hercules. Sora, he said he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." We shook hands, and Herc patted me on the shoulder gently. "Take care of him." ---- It wasn't until nightfall that Sora woke up, and he sat up on the bed. He stared at the wall across from him for a moment, then jumped as I spoke up from the doorway. "Feeling better, Sora?" He nodded, and I smiled. "Good. You had Donald, Goofy and I worried sick." Sora laughed embarrased, and hopped from the bed. He swayed for a moment, then stood up straight. "Sorry about that. Where are we?" I opened my mouth to answer, but Phil cut me off, hooves clopping on the stone floor. "You're in the Coliseum kiddo. You passed out in the Underworld and your friends brought you back up here. Although, what the hell you four were doing down there escapes me." Sora opened his mouth to protest, but his words turned into a massive yawn, making me smother a laugh behind my hand. Phil smirked, turning on his heel. "Get some sleep champ, we'll talk in the morning. Come on Christie, you're stayin' with Meg." I turned to follow Phil, but stopped as Sora called out. "Christie, thanks. For everything." I tilted my head in confusion, but nodded . "You're welcome. Night" "Night." I ran after Phil, said my goodnight's to Meg, and drifted off on a borrowed bed. Next thing I knew, Meg was shaking me awake and dawns first rays were creeping in through an open window. "Sora's awake, he's in the Arena." I nodded my thanks, tugging on my shoes as I ran into the courtyard, almost running straight into Sora's back. He laughed as he held me straight, and I smiled my thanks. Sora turned back to Hercules, and continued his explanation of our situation. "We tried to go teach Hade's a thing or two, but the Underworld drained away all our strength. Don't suppose you've got any ideas?" Herc titled his head, nodding. "Well, there is a stone that gaurd against the Underworld's curse. The god's on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there." Sora bounced on one foot. "Think we could use it?" Herc nodded, smiling. "Sure, why not. I'll go get it for you. But still, guys, Hades isn't a pushover, even with the Olympus Stone. And I've got a match for today, so I can't go with you." Sora and I shared a look, and Sora shook his head. "That's ok Herc, a friend of ours is down there, he'll help us out." Herc nodded, looking less than convinced, but trusting Sora anyway. "Alright, just wait here." Herc left the Arena, and Sora sighed. He plunked himself down on the stands, crossing his legs. After a moment, he turned to face Donald, Goofy and I. "Did...did something happen yesterday? All I remember was going back to fight Cerberus alongside Christie and Auron, then waking up here." I looked at the ground as Donald and Goofy heaved a sigh. They turned to me, gesturing to Sora. I groaned quietly, but nodded. Sora looked at me as I sat beside him. "Sora, you know how the clothes the Fairie's gave you have powers, right? And you also know that with great power comes with responsibilty, right?" Sora nodded, to both of my questions. I sighed, clutching at my necklace. "During the fight with Cerberus, you were knocked out. I guess, the Darkness in your Heart took over for a moment, becuase next thing I knew, you were looking a bit like a Heartless and Cerberus was, well, like you saw him." Sora shook his head. "No, that's not right. It can't be....I turned into a Heartless again?" I shook my head. "No. You were forced into the transformation. Sora, none of that was your fault, ok? You just can't control it yet." Sora bit his lip and turned away. "I could have hurt you or Auron." I sighed, and Goofy tilted his head. "Yeah Sora, ya could have hurt them, but ya didn't. Truth is, no matter how much Dark ya got in your heart, you've got more than enough Light in you to make the Dark stop." We smiled at Sora, and he nodded, wiping his eyes as Herc returned. "Sorry guys, the Olympus Stone has been stolen." I put my head in my hands as the boys made various sounds of surprise and asked who had done it. Hercules shook his head. "We don't know who did it yet. All we're sure of is that is was a guy in a black hooded cloak. And he had accomplices, a bunch of creatures in white." Donald and Goofy exchanged a look, nodding to eachother and Sora stomped his foot down. Herc raised a brow. "Someone you know?" Sora nodded. "I think so. Hey, if we can get the Olympus Stone back, can we borrow it for a while?" Hercules nodded, biting his lower lip. "Sure. By the way, have any of you seen Meg around?" We shook our heads, and Herc sighed. We all jumped as Hades' voice rang throughout the courtyard. "What's wrong your hero-ness? Feeling under the weather?" Hades appeared behind Hercules, and placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder. The young man snarled, ducking away from the fiery gods hold. "You know, I thought staying in shape was part of the hero job description...you know what I'm saying?" Hades chuckled at his joke, and I nudged Sora in Hades' direction. He nodded, getting up in the god's face. "Hades, we gotta talk!" Hades gave Sora a sideways glance, then flicked the boy on the forehead with one finger. Sora yelped as he landed on his back, shaking his head. "I came to share a bit of mildly intresting news." Hercules tried sneaking up on Hades from behind, but the god poofed away before the hero could throw the punch. "Seem's your dear, sweet little Nutmeg has gone and gotten herself lost in the Underworld." Herc snarled. "You mean you kidnapped her!" Hades smirked coldly. "Well, maybe....but why get caught up in the details?" Herc whirled on his heel, whistling into the air. Over the Coliseum walls came Pegasus, bright white pelt shining in the sunlight. He landed next to Herc, bending down slightly to let his companion onto his back. Just as Herc was about to mount up, Hades shook his head. "Uh-uh-uh, you can't leave now, ok? You've got a very important match today, against, um, the Bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kinds of accidents might happen." Sora huffed, stamping one foot onto the ground as he clenched his fists. "Yeah, accidents you cause!" Hades smiled, and I stepped back subconsiously in fear. He smiled as badly as Xehanort. "Like I said: details, who needs 'em?" Herc glared, and Pegasus ruffled his feathers. "You're just a coward!" "Aw well, can't all be heroes." Hades vanished in a puff of smoke. Herc crossed his arms, turning to Sora and I. "Can you four handle this?" We nodded, and Donald puffed up his chest proudly. "You got it! We're heroes!" Goofy leaned down to Donald's level. "Junior Heroes, Donald." Donald glared and Goofy, and Sora chuckled before sobering and turning to Herc. "You take care of the Hydra. We'll handle the rest." Herc nodded, placing on hand on Sora's shoulder and the other on mine. He looked to the two of us. "I'm counting on you both." We nodded, and Herc turned to Pegasus. The touched foreheads like old friends, and Herc looked sadly into his companions eyes. "You've got to find Meg." Pegasus nodded, taking off into the sky and flying over the walls. Herc sighed, and we left the Arena, running through the steadliy filling Lobby and into the hot courtyard. We passed through the crowds and down into the Underwolrd, where Phil laid on the ground, clutching his head and moaning in pain. Sora called out to the satyr, and we ran over to him. Sora helped him up, before Phil was able to stand on his own. "What happened?" "I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black. I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next I know, I'm shaking stars from my eyes." I tuned out of the boys conversation as Greiver spoke up from the back of my head. Child, something is wrong. I sense too much blood here, even for a land of death. I looked up, towards the door where Phil was pointing. Griever roared, then piped down. "To the Underworld. He's a bad apple though. All I wanted to do was find a backup hero in case Herc needed a break." Sora smirked. "Heroes, eh? You could've just asked!" Phil jumped up. "You know someone!?" Sora and Donald grabbed thier weapons, and Phil sagged. "Oh, good one." The satyr clopped up the stairs, leaving Goofy and I in giggles and Donald and Sora stared after him. They shook off thier confusion, and we headed into the Underworld proper. The next chamber was filled to the brim with fog, and with the fog, came stepping over eachother. After a few near trips, Donald's foot got the better of him. Sora tripped over the webbed foot, and was sent sprawling onto his dominant shoulder. He sat up, rubbing it fiercely. Normally, a bump like this wouldn't even have fazed him, but since we were here, well... "Man...this Underworld curse is really getting to me." Goofy nodded, and helped me pick our friends from the ground. "We've got to get that Olympus stone back, and fast!" Sora nodded, and we took off running to avoid any Heartless on the way. We came to a skidding stope in the Atrium, where Demyx stood with his back to us. I put my arm out to stop the boys charge, and took a few loud steps forward. Demyx whirled on his heel, hood falling off to reveal a dusk blond mohawk and sea blue eyes. I dispelled my daggers, hands palm up. "Demyx, right?" He nodded, looking apprensive. "Axel told me a little about you. He said that you weren't the fighting type. Just give us the stone, and we can call it a win in your favor. How does that sound?" Demyx looked at the ground, before he furrowed into a pocket on the side of his cloak. He handed the stone to me, and I nodded my thanks. He smiled sadly. "Do you have any idea where Axel and Roxas could be? I...I wanna see them again." I bit my lip in thought. If they were still at Hollow Bastion....I nodded. "I don't know if they're still there, but I last saw them at a world called Hollow Bastion." Demyx's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! You mean, I was there, and they...they...UGH!" He ran into an open portal, and I shook my head with a smile. Sora stared at the portal strangely until it closed, and I handed the Olympus stone to him. He raised it into the air, and it glowed a warm gold in his hands. I sighed in relief at the warmth it brought by lifting the curse, and Sora smiled for a moment, before we ran off into the Lock Chamber. After a few minutes of the boys running around looking for another exit out of this cave, I dragged Sora to face the stone in the center of the room. He looked from it to me, then finally caught on with a sheepish smile. I rolled my eyes as he did his little unlocking jig, and we jumped down into the Well of Captivity. Inside, Meg was glaring at Hades, arms chained to her sides. As we arrived, Hade's laughed. "Now, that's what I all call a key! Gee, keybearer, thanks for your help, and have a nice day!" He poofed away, leaving us in the empty Well. I looked over my shoulder, pulling Donald out of the way of a Hook Bat's charge. Sora whirled around, knocking another one out of the air as Pete laughed. "What's wrong? Can't fight in the Underworld?" Sora smirked, casting a Thunder spell that left my ears ringing for some strange reason. I shook it off, sticking close to Meg as the boys handled the Heartless. They came running after a Large Body appeared, and Sora freed Meg from her chains. "We've gotta go!" Meg shrieked as the Large Body came charging over, and Sora leapt in front of us to try and knock it away. He never had to though, because Hercules suddenly appeared and threw the creature straight into Pete, knocking them both down. He whistled, calling Pegasus down into the Well. The winged horse clocked Pete over the head as he landed close by, and Herc set Meg onto his back. He turned to us. "Get Meg outta here. I'll meet you back at the Coliseum." Sora grimaced. "What about you?" Herc smiled. "I'm gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero." He patted Pegasus on his flank, and the winged horse took off. We ran out of the cave via a pillar of light, just as Pete tried to follow us. Herc stopped him, giving us time to escape. We clambered out of the Well, while Pegasus landed nearby, Meg still on his back. She turned to Sora. "Sora, I won't leave him behind." Sora shook his head, and I placed my hands on my hips with a smirk. "He'll be okay Meg, we're going back in to help him." Meg looked at us with surprise in her eyes. But she smiled, nudging Pegasus on and out of the caverns. We nodded to eachother, jumping back into the Well just as Herc knocked Pete away from him. Herc, surprised to see us, didn't notice the Hook Bat coming up behind him until I'd cut it down with a thrown dagger. I summoned it back, and we got to cutting them down. Once all the Hook Bat's were gone, Pete tried to knock us all down and out. He charged at us like a Large Body, knocking Sora and Goofy into the walls, and Donald and I into one another. I helped the Duck up as Hercules knocked the dog man away with a well placed punch. Pete hit the wall, barely managing to pick himself up. "This place is giving me the creeps! I'll deal with you nitwits later!" Pete ran off, just as the Well began to collapse. Sora and Goofy managed to get up off the ground, and we ran for the exit. The Underworld around us was shaking, almost afraid as we ran back to the Entrance Chamber, where Hades was waiting. "Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite hero washout. You really blew it this time." Sora snarled. "No one likes a sore loser, Hades." Hades turned on Sora, flames and skin going red. Sora yelped, stepping back. "Can it, keyboy!" Herc stepped in front of us. "Then let me." He turned to Hades. "No one likes a sore loser, Hades." Hades snarled. "Yeah, yeah, Styx and stones. Hey, maybe you should go check out that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really falling apart up there, champ." He vanished again, leaving us staring at the spot the god had once stood as the cieling shook above us. We ran up the stairs, and Herc fell to his knees at the sight of the Hydra destroying everything. "This can't be..." Sora jumped back, pulling me with him as a large chunk of what had been the roof nearly took our heads off. Phil, Meg and Pegasus ran to Herc's side, kneeling at his side. Phil sighed in relief, clinging to Herc's arm. "Champ! You're safe!" Herc ignored him. "I failed.....I left everyone unprotected..." He slammed the ground with one fist. "Hades was right. I'm just...a...a washout!" Meg shook her head, placing one hand on Herc's shoulder. "Wonderboy...." She looked up at the roaring Hydra, glaring at it as Sora and I raced to Herc's side. I shook my hair from my eyes, helping Meg get Herc back on his feet. Sora huffed. "This is no time to be beating yourself up! We've got to kill that thing before it kills us!" Herc, unable to fight, was heaved over Pegasus and out of the battlezone as Sora summoned the Keyblade once more. The Hydra moved out of the ruined Arena and into the Courtyard, as Donald, Goofy and I called on our weapons. The Duck clutched at his staff, seemingly psyching himself up for this. "Herc needs help!" Sora nodded, locking his eyes on the Hydra. "Yeah." Phil suddenly appeared beside us. "Don't suppose you've got room for one more?" Phil punched and kicked the air, jumping around like a fat ninja. Meg and Pegasus joined in behind us. "We're in!" A swipe from the Hydra's head sent us scattering across the area, Meg and Phil heading for what was left of the Lobby to stay safe. It was only after they'd vanished into the rubble that I remembered something from my Greek Myth classes back on Earth. The Hydra's breath and blood were poisonous. Thankfully, the snake hadn't thought to open it's mouth and breath on us just yet, but I was wary as we tried to whittle away it's defenses. After a few tense moments, it's head fell to the ground, knocked unconsious. Sora smirked, moving in for the killing blow just before the ground began to shake. He stopped in his tracks, looking around before he looked up at the three heads leering down at him. "Oh...crap." He tried to turn tail and run, but wouldn't be able to get away in time. But before the Hydra could try and eat him, Pegasus swept the boy onto his back and out of danger. Sora clung to the winged horses blue mane, flying around all sixteen heads and hacking at them with the Keyblade. Donald, Goofy and I remained on the ground, throwing spells and weapons at the multi-headed snake. After all but two heads had been cut off and destroyed, Hydra opened it's mouth, breathing out a sickly green smoke. We raced away from the cloud, and I helped Donald up onto the Hydra's back. Sora and Pegasus, still in the air, nearly flew straight through the cloud, but the horse had the sense to pull up just in time, whirling around and back to us. He let Sora jump from his back, and we waiting untl Hydra had turned back around to face us to make any moves. Phil's cries made Sora run up the Hydra's neck, sending a massive golden pot at the head that was snapping at my friend. But while Sora and Phil were handling that one, the other was trying to make a meal out of us. Donald and Goofy hit the ground, barely ducking the creatures snapping jaws. I on the other hand, was sent flying past two pillars and straight into a third one. I groaned, barely managing to pick myself up from the ground as Hydra's only remaining head turned it's attention to me. I was literally staring death in the teeth when I heard wing beats, and Sora's voice. "Christie! Grab on!" I looked up in time to see Sora and Pegasus flying over, and I took Sora's hand. With Pegasus flying us to safety, Sora turned to face the still mad Hydra. He threw the Keyblade at it's neck, severing it at the base of the head. He took on a smug look, then pulled me up onto Pegasus' back as we headed back to what was left of the Lobby. I winced as the landing jarred my bruised back, but hopped off with Sora as Donald and Goofy ran up to us. Phil and Meg had set Hercules down onto the last remaining bench, and it was there he sat, head in his hands. "I let you all down. I'm just...no use anymore." Meg shook her head, lifting his chin with her fingers to make him look at her. "It's not your fault. Hey, even a god would be exhuasted." Sora nodded. "She's right. Give yourself a chance to rest." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and I shook my head to ward off his concern. I'd sleep on Infinity later. I was jolted from my thoughts as Goofy spoke. "There won't be any games for a while, anyway." Meg nodded, looking to us. "Don't worry about Wonderboy here, I'll look after him. Sora, Christie, Donald, Goofy, I owe you big time." I shook my head with a smile. "It's no big deal Meg. Just let us know if Hades or the Heartless acting up again. We'll handle it." Donald nodded, smugly hitting himself on the chest. "Yeah, that's what's heroes are for!" Meg raised a brow. "When did you four make hero?" Sora laughed, shaking his head. "Let's save that for another time. We've gotta hit the road now." Meg nodded with a smile. "Okay. Just don't be strangers." We nodded, and Goofy turned to Herc . "I hope ya feel better soon, Hercules." Herc nodded tiredly, and Donald turned to Phil. The satyr jumped. "Well, you take care now. Stay a little longer next time, we've got some serious training to catch up on!" Donald chased after Phil in anger, and Sora rolled his eyes at the Duck's antics. Still, he burrowed one hand into his pocket and fished out the Olympus stone. Hercules stood to take it from Sora, but before he could, it glowed golden. The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hands, and he nodded to himself. The wind I'd come to know as a gate opening blew through us, letting me smell rose bushes and hear the march of a band. Disney Castle... Goodbyes finished, we headed back to Infinity via the Transport Beacon at the base of the Underworld Stairs. She seemed a bit ruffleed as we beamed back on board, Holo-Form of a Chocobo warking and running around the cockpit. She screeched to a stop as she caught sight of us, shifting from Chocobo back to Moogle as Sora watched with wide eyes. She gave him a blank look, before turning to me. Apologies for the rough entry Captain, I'd lost a wingtip in that debris belt. I shook my head, starting up the main engine cores. "It's ok. Nothing to be sorry for---" The rest of my sentence was cut off as the radio squawked to life, video feed coming online. Goofy and Donald came into the cockpit as we stared at the static plagued radio, but Goofy jumped a foot in the air at the sight of a person who looked a lot like him. "This is Disney Castle calling the R.G.S Infinity! If you can hear me, please respond! Repeat, this is Disney Castle calling the R.G.S Infinity! DAD!!" Goofy looked at me, begging me to take the transmission. But I was three steps ahead, letting the signal through as I had Infinity plot the course. "This is R.G.S Infinity, what's the problem Disney Castle?" Max sighed in relief for a split second, then clutched at his ears. "We're under attack by the Heartless, and we can't hold them off for much longer. Her Majesty has been secured in the Library, but the rest of us are trapped in other places. I'm begging you, come and assist us!" The rest of the transmission was cut off by an explosion, prompting Goofy to call out his sons name. "Max!" Sora keyed the radio as I turned Infinity around, but got no response. "I repeat, Disney Castle, please respond! Dammit, no good." Goofy clutched at the back of my chair, and I looked up at him. "We're headed there now, sit down or fall down." The gratitude in his eyes was so deep I'd thought I'd drown, and he patted me on the shoulder as we took off towards their homeworld. I could only hope we'd make it in time. ---- The bit about Hydra's stuff bieng toxic is true, at least, according to myth. (blinks) That's an oxymoron. Anyhow, Max made the call to Infinity, to his Dad, becuase they need help. That, and he's a scared kid calling out to the only Parent's he's got left. Goofy. Till next time. Silver
(claps) Yay! Bailey beat Riku! Go girl power! And the fact it turned into a water fight was even better. Well done Jap, well done,
(claps) Amazing. Well written insight into a Fan Character's past is always a gem to find, and Bailey's is well written alright. One thing though, short silver hair? Why do I have the sinking feeling that the boy in her nightmares is related to Riku....
Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1, with one little addition. Dumbledore, and any further Harry Potter characters I may or may not use, belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. Capiche? --- Beast's Castle, one of my favorite worlds. Even though it had been really dark on my old set, it wasn't so bad here. Infinity transported us down near the front doors, ans with Sora's help, I heaved them open. The hallway inside was dimly lit, making it very dreary . "Hey, what is this place?" Donald looked up at cieling, falling over as he couldn't stretch his neck far enough. "It's huge!" Goofy's grip tightened on his shield. "And kinda spooky too, don't ya think?" Sora nodded, looking this way and that. "I wonder who lives here." We all covered our ears as a loud roar rang throughout the hall. Once the ringing in our ears had cleared, I tilted my head. "Is it just me, or was that really familiar?" Sora nodded as another roar was heard, and he snapped his fingers. "That's the Beast!" Donald and Goofy nodded, jumping as Sora pointed to something on the ground. I whirled on my heel, daggers drawn as we ran after the Shadow heading into the Parlor. Donald headed in first, peeking in around the door. We all headed down the few stairs in the room, and Donald headed for the corner, where Beast's Rose rested on a table. "Where did it go?" He caught sight of the Rose, and as if in a trance, headed straight for it. The Shadow popped out of the ground, scaring the poor duck out of his wits and snapping him from his trance. "Found it!" Another pair of Shadow's popped up behind Sora and I, making us jump and summon our weapons. We were forced onto the carpet in the center of the room as the Shadow's danced around us. But no matter what we did, they just kept coming. My blades and hands were covered in the black blood they left behind, and I could sense Donald's Mana running dry. Goofy and Sora had knocked many a Shadow away from the Mage as he tried to down an Ether, but they were too fast. We backed onto the center of the carpet again, backs against one another. Sora's sides were heaving, and he rubbed his eyes. "Aw c'mon! Enough already!" Clutching his staff, Donald cried out. "Somebody help us!" As if on cue, the Parlor doors slammed against the wall as they were forced open. Scowling fiercely, Beast walked into the room. Hope seemed to flood our little group as the man in front of us cleared the remaining Heartless away, but my heart sunk as I saw the look in his eyes. He wasn't here to bail us out of trouble like he'd done in the Ruins of Hollow Bastion, not this time. He was here for the Rose, and the Rose alone. Sora didn't realize this, and stood up straight with a smile on his face. "Just in time!" The rest of his sentence was cut off by a cry of surprise, as Beast's toss threw him into the wall. Donald and Goofy were thrown to the opposite side of the room, and I was launched near the stairs with a cry. Beast walked over to the Rose, picking it and it's case up gently, like a mother would her child. He turned away from the corner table, stalking out of the room as I picked myself off the ground. Sora, Donald and Goofy joined me in the center of the room once more, and Donald was rubbing a large bruise on the side of his head. Goofy frowned. "Gee, do ya think he could have forgotten us?" Sora shrugged, but crossed his arms over his chest. "With this many Heartless around, something has to be going on. We'd better go check it out." I nodded, letting Sora lead the way from the room. Donald took up the rear, and I heard him mumble to himself. "Why'd he have to do that?" Smothering my giggle behind my hand, I nearly crashed into Sora. The boy was staring at the wide staircase, brow furrowed. "What's wrong Sora?" He blinked, and tilted his head. "I just know I saw a lady at the top of the stairs..." We all followed his gaze, and I nodded. "If Beast is here, there's a good chance that lady was Belle." Sora smiled to me and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Belle must know what's gotten into the Beast, so we should ask her." He turned to Donald and Goofy, who nodded. As we entered the East Hall, I felt Griever roar out a warning, just in time to pull Sora back from getting his head cleaved off by a statue that had come to life. The boy yelped as I tugged him down, eyes wide as he stood in a hurry, summoning the Keyblade once more. Goofy and Donald charged at the creature, but Donald could do little to injure it. Bieng made of stone, no magic affected the statues, and becuase of that, our mage was forced from combat. The statues in the hall all fell to a mix of Sora's Keyblade, my Daggers and Goofy's shield. Donald pouted as we continued forward with the statues defeated. Approaching Belle's door, Sora and I scooted to one side as Goofy stood on the other. Putting one finger to his lips, Sora gestured to the door. Donald nodded, gearing for a charge to ram the doors down. I heard the lock click open, and Sora reached out to grab the duck as he charged into the opening doors. As he landed on his face, I winced in sympathy. He shook off the rough landing however, and raised his head. "Hey! Who opened the door?" He looked up, yelping as Belle drew him into a relieved embrace. "Oh, I'm so happy you're all here!" As Donald struggled in Belles arms, she looked over his head to us. "Donald! Sora! Christie! Goofy!" The boys and I waved, and I had to clutch at Sora's shoulder to keep my balance as I held in my laughs at the way Donald was struggling. "Put me down! Put me down!" Belle blinked, realizing she still held Donald in her arms. Apologizing, she set the dizzy duck down onto the ground, where he sat as we entered the room. After a moment, he recovered enough to stand on wobbly legs. "Where's the Beast?" Belle looked away, crossing her arms. "Oh, he must be in the West Wing. We don't talk like we used to anymore." Sora tilted his head. "Did something happen?" Belle nodded, frowning in confusion. "Yes. Isn't that why you're all here?" I shrugged as the boys looked to me, and turned to Belle. "Not really. But since we're here, we can still help." Donald and Goofy nodded, the duck having finally recovered his balance. "The Beast won't talk to you?" Belle nodded, walking over to he balcony door and throwing it open. The chilled night winds blew her thin curtains around, but I was grateful for the fresh air. "He's been acting strange lately. The only ones who could know why are locked up the dungeons below. I want to help them, but...." Sora tilted his head, confused. "Wait a minute. Who locked who up?" "The Beast locked up his servants." Donald crossed his arms over his torso, tapping one foot. "But why?" "That's what I don't know." Sora "hmmed", putting one hand on his chin. He looked up after a minute. "Where's this dungeon Belle?" "You should be able to get into the Dungeon from the Undercroft in the West Hall. Just be careful, the Heartless are everywhere now." Sora nodded, giving her a thumbs up as we left the room, shutting the doors behind us. Despite Belle's warning, no Heartless stopped our passage into the West Hall, and we walked past rows of unmanned armor. Sora looked around the expansive, lit hallway. "There should be a way into the Undercroft from here, right?" At Goofy's nod, Sora continued his search by beginning to push a wardrobe from the only doorway that was unblocked. He noticed the doorway a second after I did, and before I could stop him, he whooped in joy. "Here it is!" He jumped backwards in shock as the Wardrobe came to life. "Do you MIND?! I was TRYING to sleep!" We watched in shock and confusion as the wardrobe lifted herself up, walked the short distance back to her original position, and began to fall back asleep. When she started snoring, Sora began to push her again. With a little help from Donald and Goofy, we finally got her out of the doorway. She came awake once more. "And I was just starting to get comfortable... May I help you young man?" Sora blinked, then nodded. "Right. Belle needs us to go into the dungeon, to find the servants." The Wardrobe smiled. "Goodness! You're here to help my friends? Well, why didn't you just say so?" "Er...well....you kind of startled us before." The wardrobe smiled in apology. "I'm sorry about that. You see, I used to be a human until the Enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into this wardobe while the Prince was transformed into a Beast." Donald and Goofy stepped back in shock, shouting in unison. "The Prince is the Beast?!" "The Beast is a Prince?!" Wardrobe nodded, frowning a bit. "That's right. Although his behavior was far from Princely at the time." I tilted my head. "What's this about a...spell?" Noding once more, Wardrobe launched into her story. "Well, it was a cold winter's night, just a few days before Christmas." The boys nodded, wanting her to continue. "And that's enough for now. You can hear the rest once you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to." Donald pouted, but Sora smiled. As she moved away from the doorway to let us in, Wardrobe spoke up again. "You'd best hurry. That dungeon is damp and chilly, certainly no place for a clock!" Sora quirked a brow. "A...clock?" Wardrobe nodded, somehow herding us to the doorway. "You'll find out soon enough dears, now hurry!" We nodded, and Sora and I pulled open the heavy door. Inside the Undercroft were lots of boxes and tarps. This must have been a storage area, if the Prince hadn't used the dungeon's often. Donald walked over to the dungeon door, not noticing the sentinals coming to life. He placed an ear against it, and the eyes of the otherwise cold statues came to life. Backing away, Donald barely kept his beak attached as the creature's claws slammed into the keyhole. "Uh-oh...." He turned and ran, hiding behind Goofy as the Heartless tried to slam a fist down on top of him. I summoned my daggers as they joined thier hands, letting Sora run to attack them. Throughout the fight, Hook Bats kept appearing. Normally, we'd have ignored them and just continued onwards, but in such tight quarters, they were increasingly annoying. After nearly losing his hat to one, Donald whirled around, knocking it from the air with his staff bieng used like a golf club. He continued to keep them off our backs with Magic after that, giving Sora and Goofy a chance to knock the sentinals on the door out. Instead of fading away like most Heartless would have, they continued to stay there. But they lost all thier color as a ball of Dark Energy came floating out of the Keyhole. Sora stared after it for a moment, then charged at it before it was out of range. Goofy and I chased after the ball as it got away from Sora, and it was quickly defeated. With it's life energy spent, it hovered over the room and faded away. The doors behind us unlocked with a loud sound, and Donald turned. "You think the dungeon's past this door?" Sora nodded, trying to pull the stone doors open. He grabbed one handle and tried to pull, but he couldn't do it on his own. Goofy and I grabbed the other handle, and we managed to get them open enough to squeak through. Once inside, Sora looked around . "There's nobody here." Donald's jaw dropped. "You mean, there's nobody to rescue?" Sora sighed, nodding. As we turned to leave, a french voice spoke up. "Did someone say rescue?" Another voice spoke up, this one with a british accent. "Shhh! Keep quiet. It might be THEM!" A third voice, this one motherly and kind, continued. "Oh, they look like nice folks to me. Why else would they have come down all this way?" Still looking around, Sora called out to the room. "Belle sent us to find you. If there's anyone in here, can you please come out?" I tapped Sora's shoulder, pointing to the chairs set against the back walls as a winding clock, three pronged candlestick, teapot and teacup hopped off of them and onto the ground. I smiled slightly as we bent down to be at thier levels, letting Sora do the introductions. "I'm Sora. This is Christie, Donald, and Goofy." Almost hypnotized by Cogsworth's ticking hands, Donald grabbed the little clock, startling the rest of us. Chip hid behind my hand with his mother close by, as Lumiere crossed his "arms" and heaved a sigh. Cogsworth was trying to get Donald to put him down, to no avail. "...D-don't touch! I-I am self winding sir!" Still ignoring the clock's protests, Donald continued to examine the clock's workings. Sora rolled his eyes, turning back to Lumiere as Chip peeked out from my hand. "I'm glad you're all alright." Lumiere nodded, turning to the boy. "It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" Cogsworth giggled as Donald tickled his foot and tugged on his arm. I turned to Lumiere. "Did the Enchantress cast a spell on all of you too?" Mrs. Potts nodded, watching Chip hop from my hand to Sora's. The boy gently placed him on the ground, and the little teacup hopped over to his mother. "Yes. It was a winter's night, very long ago. An old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter." Cogsworth began to tell the story, even with Donald still playing around with him. "But the master of this castle, that is of course, the Prince..." Donald opened up the pendulum window, playing with the hanging timer. Cogsworth slammed the glass window shut, scaring Donald into putting the clock down onto a box. Dusting himself off, the clock continued the story. "The master turned her away. All because of her, meager appearence." We all stood, and Goofy shook his head. "That's awful!" "Oui. He was a spoiled Prince. So selfish and...how shall I say...cruel." Cogsworth verbally protested the slander of thier master, and Mrs. Pott's continued the story. "The old woman warned our master not to be decieved by appearences. Still, he would not take her in." Done with chewing out his comrade, Cogsworth picked up the tale. "Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. She turned the Prince into a Beast, a shape she saw fitting for his cold heart. And to further punish him, she turned everyone in this castle, that is, us, into household items." Sora blinked, trying to clear the shock from his brain. "Wow...that's quite the story." I nodded, turning to the servants. "Is there anything at all we can do to help?" Doanld smirked. "Let's get the Enchantress!" Mrs. Pott's shook her head. "Oh no dears, we already know what must be done. But with the Master out of sorts as of late..." Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "He sure is acting strange. It's almost like he's, forgotten to trust the people around him..." Sora looked at the ground, and I knew he was thinking about how Riku had acted when we were just a little younger. Cogsworth's question made him look up. "You don't suppose that he's been, turned into a Heartless, do you?" We shook our heads, and the servants sighed in relief. They hopped down off the boxed, passing through the barely open door with us behind them. No matter what anyone says, these guys are good at getting around over boxes and the like. At the top of the Undercroft stood two suits of armor. They'd blocked our path before, so I'd not given them a second thought. But now that Cogsworth stood before them, they sprang to life. "Allow our guests to pass!" They stepped aside, letting us through. As the other servants stepped through, Cogsworth turned to Sora and I. "After you." The next room was another dimly lit hall. I coughed, covering my nose with my arm. This place reeked of Darkness. Lumiere sighed. "I'm afraid that marching out of here won't be as easy as we expected. You see mon ami, the doors leading to the other side are concealed with a clever sort of contraption." Sora tilted his head. "What kind of contraption?" "Observe." We turned to watch Cogsworth. The little clock had hopped onto a crank jutting out from the wall, and was now hanging off it for dear life as a darkly flaming lantern lowered from the ceiling. I coughed again, that was what was making this place reek! Donald sqauwked in surprise. "The lantern came down!" "Indeed it did. If we could but light all the lanterns in the passageway, the secret door would open. However, as you can no doubt see, the lanterns are already lit by an enchanted flame. You must put these flames out before I can light the lanterns properly." Sora tilted his head. "Why don't you just throw water on them." Mrs. Potts shook her head. "I'm afraid that's not enough dearie. These flames are Darkness. If you use light, they may go out." Sora nodded. "Let's try the Keyblade." Summoning the weapon, Sora pointed it at the dark lantern. The black flame went out, letting Lumiere light it normally. "Bravo!" "Only three lanterns left! If we work together, we can get that door open in no time!" Sora smiled brightly. "Piece of cake!" Lumiere sighed. "Again, it is not so simple mon ami. You certainly cannot expect Cogsworth to hang from that handle forever?" Cogsworth sputtered, seething at his candelabra comrade. "What? Why? Lumiere, you!" Ignoring the fuming clock, Lumiere continued his explaining. "If he gets tired and falls off, any lanterns that are still enchanted will return to the cieling. Before you can continue to fix these silly little things, you must tend to Cogsworth. Once he recovers his wind, he'll grasp the lever for you again." As Sora, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts tended to the second lantern, I went on ahead to clear the way of all the crates. Thankfully, the damp flooring made them easy to push away, clearing the path for the ones behind me. As Sora lit the last lantern, Donald and Goofy came up with Cogsworth behind them. Sora turned to Lumiere. "Are we all set now?" "Oui. The secret door should open now." I shook my head. "Then...where is it?" Cogsworth pointed to an odd colored brick sticking out of the wall. "Just push the brick over there, the one that's sticking out of the wall. It will open the way for you." Nodding, Sora pushed it back into the wall. The added pressure of the extra brick made gears hidden in the walls turn, opening the secret door behind us and letting light and some warm air in, the light coming from the staircase behind the door. Lumiere and Mrs. Potts headed on towards the stairs. "Now, we must tend to the castle. We've been gone far to long." They headed off, with Chip at their heels. Cogsworth stayed behind, turning to us. "The Master's room is at the very end of the West Wing. I shall go on ahead and wait for you." The clock left up the stairs, and we followed. We arrived in Beast's room just as Xaldin was leaving, and Sora waved. "Hey Prince." Beast whirled around, cape flying out behind him as he roared at us. I stepped back, covering my ears in pain as the roar sent Donald to the ground with his hat over his eyes. Sora and Goofy made vague noises of surprise, and Cogsworth cried out to his master. "Oh dear! Master!" Beast slashed at us, making Donald and Sora jump back. He roared once more, and I winced as I had to put my hands back over my ears. Beast launched himself at us, and we leapt aside. His reckless charging sent him headfirst into a wall, and Cogsworth took this chance to ring his alarm bell. It startled us, and Beast to a degree, but didn't snap him out of his rage. If anything, it made him angrier. After one of his claw swipes almost took Sora's head off, I'd had enough. Dispelling my daggers, I jumped onto his back and tugged on Beast's cape to slow him down. The boys stared in shock for a moment, then sprang into action once more. Clobbering Beast over the head with the Keyblade, Sora gave Cogsworth a chance to wake the Beast from his mind. It worked this time, but not before I was thrown off his back. I rolled to a stop near the Rose's pedestal, and Sora raced over to help me up as Beast shook off the last of his anger born stupor. He turned to Cogsworth. "Cogsworth...what happened?" "Well, Master...ah, you see, that is...How shall I say...ah, actually...mmm..." Donald scoffed, fed up with playing nice. "Well, you put everybody down in the dungeons!" Beast blinked in shock. "I did what?!" Cogsworth backpedalled, trying to calm his master. "Ah, you did." Beast looked away, not speaking. Sora pulled me from the ground, and turned to Beast. "Who was that guy you were talking to? The one in black?" Beast looked up, snarling. "Xaldin! That's his name. He came from the Darkness...He...used my anger to control me. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain, and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do. I could no longer see the truth..." Shaking the last of the cobwebs from my brain, I turned to Beast. "That explains why you locked everyone into the dungeons. You wanted to be sure they wouldn't get hurt." "Was that it? Was it to protect them?" I nodded. "Yeah. We all know you're good inside." Cogsworth took up the mantle of boosting Beast's self esteem here. "We've all see how kind you can be. After all...Belle can see the goodness in your Heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to..." Beast cut him off, making us jump. "Belle!" The man sighed, sagging. "I've mistreated her...I've mistreated her and been so selfish." Sora shook his head. "She didn't say anything about that." "She never tell anyone of my cruelty, she's too good." Cogsworth sighed, whispering to Sora. "You see, I'm afraid he judges himself far to harshly." Sora rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just go talk to her?" "But..." "No excuses! C'mon, we'll go with you." He was still hesitant, but Beast followed us into the East Wing. Belle wasn't in her room, and only the Wardrobe stood there. "Master!" Donald smiled smugly. "Everyone's safe now!" Wardrobe smiled in relief. "Wonderful! Thank you!" "Where is Belle?!" "Why, she left in a hurry. Something about going after this...man in black." Beast roared in surprise. "WHAT?! Why doesn't she do as she's told?" Wardrobe huffed. "Temper, temper! Her spirit is what makes her so special!" Beast was already in the hall before we could even get a word in edgewise. We raced after him into the Main Hall, where he stood at the base of the main stairs. "Belle! Where are you?" "Beast! Help! I'm in the ballroom!" Beast turned on his heel, racing back up the stairs and through the doors. Belle was running across the floor to the Balcony door as a Darkball in chains was chasing after her. "Belle!" "I'm alright!" The Shadow Stalker changed targets, turning to us. After a moment of staring at us, it floated up onto the chandelier. After a few seconds, it dropped down once more, poisoning the the room with Darkness. I summoned my daggers as Donald jumped into Goofy's arms to avoid the tide of Darkness choking the room. Shadow Stalker reappeared in front of us, and Beast leapt at it, claws tearing hunks of it's flesh away. We didn't even get a hit in, the Beast finished off Shadow Stalker in less than a minute. It floated away from the angry Beast, twisting and warping into a creature akin to Dark Ifrit of Spira Fame. The only difference was this creature was dark purple, with throbbing pink fins on it's head and arms. It roared loudly, moving to attack us. Sora didn't give it a chance, and struck forward with his Keyblade. Dark Thorn was unable to dodge this, and stumbled backwards as it clutched its side. It roared again, and vanished from sight. Sora looked wildly around, while Donald and Goofy covered his back. Beast was sniffing the air, while I kept my vision to the cieling. Sure enough, it had claimed the Chandelier as was quickly dropping the warped lighting fixture down to the ground. We all leapt out of the way, Sora beating down upon the Heartless' head when it jumped off the chandelier. It vanished once more, and Sora groaned. "Where did it go now?!" Beast looked up, and called to Sora. The boy caught on quickly, and leapt from the ground onto Beast's cupped hands. Beast launched the boy up into the air, where he grabbed ahold of the chandelier. We scattered as Sora's wieght brought the lighting fixture down, catching the Dark Thorn in midleap. Sora spun the chandelier around the room, sending the dark creature into the door way and out into the hall. It roared feebly, then faded away into a puddle of boiling darkness. The ballroom returned to normal, and Sora smiled. "We did it!" "So you think." We all whirled back to face the doors, and Beast roared at the sight of Xaldin there. Sora, Beast and I ran to try and engage him in combat, but he faded into a Dark Portal before we got there. "Farewell." Skidding to a stop, Beast snorted. "What does he want here?" I dispelled my daggers, looking up at Beast. "He's with Organization XIII." Sora nodded, and continued with the story. "Ever hear of the Nobodies? When a strong hearted person is turned into a Heartless, a Nobody's created. See, the Organization has control over all the Nobodies." Goofy nodded, placing his shield back on back as Donald calmed down. "That's right. And they were gonna make you into a Heartless. That way, they could get that Nobody of yours and have control of it." Sora and I nodded to Goofy, but before we could say anything else, Belle appeared. "You're alright!" Beast turned, then raced over to Belle as she was coming in from the balcony. He skidded to a stop near her, just as the servants were coming into the ballroom. "Belle...I-I'm sorry, I....wasn't myself. I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you." Belle smiled gently, and hopeful, Beast mirrored that smile. But still, he was angry at himself. "Forgive me." "I know you weren't yourself. You don't have to apologize. But I had hoped, that you might have changed a little bit." She wagged a finger in his face, making the man look sheepish. Then Belle crossed her arms. "I just wish you could start trusting me." I winced, that had to have hurt. Sora shook his head as Lumiere spoke up. "Oh, I'm afraid time is running short." "What do you mean?" "Remember the rose in the Master's Room? If the Master can learn to love, and earn love in return before the last petal falls, the spell will break." Sora smiled happily, bouncing on the soles of his feet. "Really?!" He looked to the not so happy couple standing away from us. "You think he's gonna make it?" I nodded, and Mrs. Potts echoed my sentiment, as she nuzzled her son. "We think so dearies. We think so." Goofy nodded. "Yep, I think you're right about that." Sora smiled hopefully. "I hope your right." All of a sudden, the balcony doors flew open as the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hands once again. Beast held Belle close to him in case of a threat, but Sora shook his head. With the unlocked keyhole, I could hear cheers of a crowd and smell mold and mildew. Olympus Coliseum.. Sora locked the keyhole, and the wind died down. The balcony doors shut, and Beast and Belle walked over to us. "What happened?" "The gate is open!" Belle frowned. "Do you have to go?" Sora nodded, letting the Keyblade vanish into thin air. "You two play fair now, ok?" Beast and Belle looed at eachother, then looked away. I giggled as Lumiere bowed. "We shall see to it." "Take care of yourselves dears." "You're welcome here anytime." Still smiling, Sora turned to Beast. "If you hear anything about Riku, The King, The Heartless, The Organization, anything at all, let us know." They all nodded, and we turned to leave the ballroom. The doors closed behind us as we waved goodbye, heading back to Infinity. We were beamed on board, and I yelped as the ship moved without any commands. "Infinity! What's going on?" I'm afraid I don't know. We're being summoned to Hollow Bastion by some very powerful Magics. I suggest you hold on! We did as she asked, and arrived at Hollow Bastion within ten minutes. Infinity beamed us down into the Burrough, where the door to Merlin's place was open. Sora called the Keyblade as several Soldier class Heartless ran out of Merlin's open door, but they vanished before we could engage them. We raced into Merlin's house, where the old wizard was just dusting himself off after a tumble. He looked at us. "Well now, you all certainly took your sweet time." Sora tilted his head. "So, you're the one who summoned us back here?" Merlin nodded, righting a chair that had been knocked over. "Yes, yes, but it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal Heartless...." "So, what's up?" "Ah, yes. I was given this in the Zero District by a dear friend of mine.." He pulled out Pooh's storybook, handing it to Sora. Sora smiled brightly, sighing in happiness as he ran his fingers over the worn cover. "Pooh's storybook!" "That's right. Dumbledore said he found it in his world almost a year ago." I looked up in surprise, but said nothing as Sora clutched the book to his chest in relief. Merlin smiled. "Well, I know you're a good friend of Winnie the Pooh, Sora. That's why I summoned you all back here. But when I did, the Heartless appeared from the shadows. Of course, I fought back with my own magic, but I feared that book would be damaged, so I...wait a moment. Leon and other's should hear this too. I'll go find them. Be back in a jiffy." Merlin vanished in a puff of smoke, and Sora set the book down onto the table. "I wonder how Pooh's been doing lately." Putting a hand on Sora's shoulder, I smiled. "If you want to go check on him, we can cover for you." Sora smiled brightly, opening the book to the exact middle page, a map of the Hundred Acre Wood. He waved, then jumped on in. It's magic accepted Sora like an old friend, and I closed the book behind him. Carrying it to the pedestal near Merlin's bed, I set it down gently and settled to wait for Sora's return. ---- Sora gently floated down onto the paper, looking at the old designs. One stod up like a pop-up storybook, and Sora smiled. "I wonder if Pooh's home now..." He headed for that page, entering the little clearing that contained the house of his dear friend. Pooh was sitting on a log in front of his empty firepit, and the stuffed bear looked up as Sora entered the clearing with a smile on his face. "Hey Pooh Bear! How are you doing? Finding enough honey lately?" Pooh nodded. "Oh yes. In fact, I was about to do my stoutness exercises. Would you like to join me, Sora?" Sora nodded, hands on his knees. "Sure, I'm game." Smiling at his friend, Pooh hopped off the log. Only to freeze in midair as the world changed around them. Sora frowned. "What?" He reached out a hand to try and help Pooh, but was thrown back and out of the book. He cried out in pain as his head impacted with Merlin's floor, looking up as the book closed behind him. "Sora, get your arse out here right now! We need help!" Shaking cobwebs from his brain, Sora stood up. "Christie?" ---- Cutting down another Soldier, I jumped backwards to avoid the NeoShadow's claw. Why had these things shown up here?! Sora raced from Merlin's house, Keyblade in hand. Goofy, having just taken another Shadow from the air with his shield, turned to the boy. "Did ya bring the book Sora?" Sora turned to go back and get it, but before he could go back inside the house, three Soldier's ran out of the open door, clutching the book in thier claws. "Hey!" "Give that back!" Sora ran after the one Soldier carrying the book, hacking it away from the book. The rest of the Heartless faded away, leaving only the bok behind. As Sora picked it up from the ground, he shook his head at the sight of three slashes on the cover. "Think it's ok?" "Gawrsh Sora, you should go back and check on Pooh." I nodded, taking the book from Sora's hands and holding it open. He jumped on in, and Donald frowned. "What are we gonna tell Merlin." Shaking my head, I gently closed the book. The tears in the cover were repairable with some glue and thread, it would be alright. "We'll just tell him the truth. He'll understand." ---- Sora ran into the clearing, hoping beyond hope that Pooh was alright. The little bear was sitting on the log in front of his firepit, unharmed. "Pooh! I'm so glad you're alright." "And I'm very glad you came to visit. But you see, I was about to begin my stoutness exercises. Perhaps we could visit a bit later...Somebody-I-Don't-Know." Sora blinked in shock, but nodded as Pooh hopped from the log. "Oh...sure. How's Piglet these days?" Pooh touched his toes and stretched out his legs. "I'm don't think I know anyone by that name. Now where was I? Oh, yes. My stoutness exercises." Sora reached out a hand, then turned around with his shoulders sagging. Shaking his head, Sora left the book to return to Merlin's study, where Christie, Donald and Goofy were having a standoff. "Couldn't be bothered to wait for an old wizard, no you couldn't!" Sora flinched. "Sorry about that Merlin." Merlin frowned. "How are things in there now?" Sora looked away, taking a seat as one of Merlin's enchanted chairs appeared behind him. "Well, Pooh seems to have forgotten about me, and his other friends too." Merlin sighed, nodding. "Yes, yes, I was afriad of that." He walked over to the book, gently setting on the table and casting a strange blue spell on it. "I suspect it has something to do with those pages the Heartless stole. You'll juse have to collect the torn pages and repair the book to set things right in there." He turned to face the warriors. "Now then, this book is one of the world's most cherished elements. I'd been meaning to tell Leon and Vincent it had been recovered, but I think we should just keep it between us for now." Donald, Goofy and Christie nodded, and as Merlin turned to Sora to get an answer, they all smiled. The teenage boy had fallen asleep on Merlin's table, visibly exhausted. Merlin sighed, turning to Christie. "Well, I daresay you'd better stay the night dear. I don't think he's going anywhere now." Christie nodded, and with a smile, left Merlin's house. A little break would do them all good. ---- A/N: Yes, Albus Dumbledore found Pooh's storybook. He went to Merlin, and the rest is fini. Kay? Good. See you all next time! Silver
Nice chapter! It was a joy to read an update on Bailey's story, and I'm starting to see how Riku's falling for her. But, my one quirk was there were too many Fan Characters in one place. Destiny Islands does need more people, but that was just too many, too fast.
"Ping" Didn't show she was also a girl becuase she couldn't fight well. Shang had a grudging respect for Christie becuase she could fight well enough to defend his troops if needed. "Ping" on the other hand, no so much.
Note: I changed the world around a bit, had to make some kind of events happen. ---- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ----- The Land of Dragons was a world torn apart by war. Still, there were peaceful places around. The small clearing where the boys and I were now was one of those places. As we walked ahead to scout out the area, I could hear Mushu and Mulan's conversation. "See that Mulan? It's Shan-Yu, leader of the Hun Army! C'mon girl, this is your big chance!" There was the sound of a fire, and a plume of red smoke was sent off into the sky. Sora yelped, falling over at the sight of it. AS Donald and Goofy helped him up, I kpet listening in on the conversation ahead of us. "I can see it now: "Fa Mulan whips public enemy number one!" You're gonna be famous! I'm talking A-List girl!" "Mushu, I'm not sure....I haven't even joined the Army yet. I have to take my father's place to preserve the Fa Family honor. I just hope I don't get discovered." Mushu scoffed. "You're just scared. Admit it." Mulan smiled sheepishly. "Aren't you?" There was a light smack, Mushu had facepalmed. We kept walking forward, and Goofy stopped, peaking into the little grove where Mulan and Mushu were. They all saw the giant shadow the little dragon was casting, and loked at one another. "A Heartless?" Sora nodded. "Let's get the jump on him!" Sora and Donald ran on ahead into the grove, while Goofy and I tried to stop them. It was useless, and their reckless charge scared Mulan into covering her head with her arms. Mushu jumped onto her head from behind the rock, and Sora skidded to a stop as he caught sight of the little dragon. Goofy and I walked into the grove a little more calmly, and he tilted his head. "Is that Mushu?" The little dragon stood up straight. "That's right, I know you've heard of me! I'm little, lethal and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!" I snickered as Sora smiled brightly. Dragon Dander? "Hey Mushu! We've missed you!" The dragon snarled, smoke leaking out of his nose. "Yeah, well you'd better hope I miss you, or you're....you're....Sora! Christie! Donald! Goofy!" As he hopped off Mulan's head, she looked at him. "You know them?" Mushu nodded. "Know them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together! Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of right spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon! Right?" Mushu leaned against Sora's leg as Mulan looked hesitant. Sora moved his leg, making Mushu fall over. "Something like that." He looked at Mulan as Mushu shook a tiny fist at him. "And..you are?" "I'm Mulan. Um, no, I-I mean..." She cleared her throat, lowering her voice. Mushu popped his head up. "Ping!" Donald's brow furrowed. "Mulan Ping?" Mulan shook her head. "Just...Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou." Sora tilted his head. "You know Mushu?" "Mushu's one of my family's Guardians." Goofys hands flew to his mouth. "We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family Gaurdian." Mushu stood, dusted himself off and climbed up Mulan's leg onto her shoulder. "Yeah, that's right! And that put's you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here!" Mulan hissed something at Mushu, and the little dragon waved one hand. "Ah, they don't mind. Ain't that right." Sora and I nodded, smiling. "Sound's fair to me." Mushu smiled brightly, hopping from one of Mulan's to the shoulder and back again. "See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial Army. We gotta fo find the other recruits over at the training camp." Mulan nodded. "Would you join us? It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys like you." I coughed, she thought I was a....oh man....I shook my head as Sora piped up. "What do you mean, "fit in"?" Mushu squirmed. "Well, um, uh, don't, don't worry about that?" I shook my head, looking Mulan in the eye. "It's becuase you're a girl, right?" As Mulan nodded, Sora and Donald jumped in surprise. "You're a....girl?" Mulan smiled sheepishly. "You didn't notice." Sora and Donald shook thier heads, and Mulan smiled to Mushu. "I think it's working!" Mushu shook his head as Mulan led the way into the encampment. "I don't know, those two would fall for anything." I laughed at the look on Sora and Donald's faces as I ran off after Mulan. "Hey!" "We're right here!" Goofy snickered as we entered the camp, and Sora took the lead. I could hear Mushu whispereing something to Mulan, and I rolled my eyes as "Ping" began to walk awkwardly into camp. Sora entered a line of soldiers that were waiting for lunch, but was pushed out of his spot by a stocky man with a black eye. 'Bout time we got some grub." Sora growled, getting up into Yao's face. "Hey, no cutting!" Doanld stomped the ground with a foot. "Get out!" Instead of politely doing that, Yao punched Sora in the face. The boy tumbled to the ground, rolling head over heels for a minute. He stopped rolling when he landed near a tent, laying on his staomch. Shaking my head, I leaned over him, dusting off his jacket as Donald and Yao exchanged blows. Goofy's hands flew to his mouth. Two more people came over, one incredibly skinny and dressed in yellow, the other rotund, tall and dressed in blue armor. Sora shoved his way up off the ground as Yao tossed Donald off his back. "That does it!" Sora leapt from the ground, trying to grab Yao as Donald jumped up and down on Ling's back. I put my head in my hands, sensing Mulan fidget behind me. Clenching my fists at my sides, I screamed. Everyone stopped fighting, staring at me like deer caught in the headlights. I glared, tapping one foot on the grass. Yao blinked in shock, staring at me. "A girl?!" "Soldiers! What's the meaning of this?" Everyone in the army, along with Sora, Ping, Donald and Goofy, quickly ducked back into line, and I glared at the man who'd spoken from nearby. Standing at an imposing six foot high, Captain Shang could strike fear into any lesser soldier. But I've seen scarier dogs before, this man couldn't have scared me even if he'd tried. After inspecting the line, he turned to me, blinking in shock as he looked me up and down. "You're, a woman..." I nodded curtly, not taking my eyes off him. I didn't trust men like him, military brats. He frowned. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. Women are not permitted in this army." Mulan flinched, before I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere. And who said I was a part of your army?" Shang sputtered, and I smirked. After a moment of his still sputtering like a fish out of water, I whirled on my heel, cutting down a Shadow before it could attack. My boys whirled into action, and the Heartless were gone in minutes. The so called "army" had scattered across the camp back into thier tents, peeking thier heads out as Shang walked over to us, wiping black blood from his blade. I quirked an eyebrow. So, the soldier brat could fight. Wonderful. He stared at us in turn, before turning to face me. "Girl, what is your name?" "Christie." Shang nodded. "Very well. Christie, you and your companions are welcome in my troop, so long as you introduce yourselves.." Sora smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. "Sora." "Donald." "Goofy." "Very well. You're welcome in my troop. Your battle skills are encouraging, and my troop needs it morale boost." Next to me, Ping fidgeted. "I am the son of Fa Zhou---" Shang cut her off. "You should return home." Ping sputtered. "B-but...that would dishonor my family!" Shang quirked an eyebrow. "You'd rather dishonor my troops?" Ping flinched, trying to act tough. "Don't make me...!" Sora shook his head. "If Ping trains hard and does his best, he'll get stronger in no time." Shang wasn't convinced, and Sora sighed. "Just give us an assignment! We'll show you just how well we can work together." "So...you want to be tested. Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on thier way here. They'll be coming through the Mountain Pass to the northwest of the Checkpoint." Sora nodded, tapping one foot on the grass as Donald smiled. "We'll smash them!" Shang shook his head as I glared at the duck. "I doubt that. You five are the advance party. Scout out the Mountain Pass for my troops." Crossing my arms, I tilted my head. "So, send the scape goats into the front lines. Wonderful." I turned on my heel, walking towards the checkpoint gate. The boys and Ping ran after me in a minute, and as we crossed the borders, the "mysterious figure" that Sora had said the Captain had seen appeared. It was a Wizard Heartless, just about 2 feet hight and with clawed hands. It's hat was about to fall off from it's jerky movements, but that would just lull it's opponent into a false sense of security. It was very good at fire type spells, leaving Donald to fire away at it with Blizzard from afar as Sora, Goofy, Ping and I hacked at it in close range. It fell after a few moments, leaving us standing in the ankle deep water. As I began to dispel my daggers, the water shook near my feet. Sora looked down, noting the water's unusual movement before he leapt aside, barely avoiding getting skewered by an Assualt Rider's spear. The creature stood at a good 7 foot hieght, with a humanoid body from the torso up, and a horselike body from the torso down. It's legs were skinny for it's weight, which left it tottering as Goofy knocked one leg out with a well aimed toss of his shield. It charged at the captain of the Knights, and he had to leap aside. Doanld sprung into action from near the gates, firing Thunder and Fire spells at the creature. As I jumped at the creature, slashing it's arms to try and get it to drop the spear, Sora skidded to a stop. "Water conducts electricity...." The boy jumped on top of the creature, clinging to it's neck as he tried to cast a Blizzard spell in time with Donalds Fire. It didn't work so well, and Sora tumbled into the water. His enchanted clothes stayed dry, but his hiar and uncovered skin was soaked to the bone. But it gave me an idea. We needed to unbalance this thing, make it fall into the water. As Sora returned to hacking away at the Assualt Rider, I scrambled over to Donald. "Cast Break!" The Duck blinked, but then smirked as he caught onto my plan. Sora jumped back as he felt the magic gathering, ad Donalds spell sent the Assualt Rider to the floor with a mighty splash of cold river water, soaking it's black fur through to the skin. Static electricity crackled in the air, and dual Thunder Spells from Sora and I sent the creature back to the Darkness from whence it had come. Sora shook his head, wringing out wet spikes as Ping picked himself up from the ground. He'd been unprepared for Donald's spell, and it showed as he rubbed his bruised back. Goofy came over from where he'd been standing near the gate leading to the Imperial City. We returned to camp just as the sun was setting, and Shang looked us over with eyes showing just a hint of pride. "You've done a passable job. But stay alert. Rest for now, I'll have more tasks for you in the morning. There are empty tents near the Checkpoint Gate." Leaving us with those words, he stalked off into his own tent. I'd taken great pleasure during my gaming to blow up that cloth shelter, but I held myself back from casting a Fire spell this time. Donald on the other hand, looked ready to blow up the man himself. Goofy put on hand on his old friends shoulder, and Donald heaved a sigh. They headed off to one of the empty tents, leaving Sora and I to take another. Ping had the last one with Mushu, but he didn't seem to care. Two sleeping mats were shoved into a corner of the tent, and we unrolled them to sleep. Sora winced as he layed on his side, poking his still bruised cheek. He sat up, crossing his legs as I was taking off my shoes. "Do you think, Ping's gonna make it?" I nodded, leaning back on my elbows as I filched around in one of my pockets for a clean cloth. Finding one, I cast a low level Blizzard spell into the weave, chilling the cloth. Sora gasped slightly as I pressed it against his cheek, but he nodded his thanks, laying on his uninjured side. We both drifted off to sleep quickly, exhausted from the days events. I don't know how long it had been before we were rudely awoken but an alarm bell, but it was still pitch black outside the tent, so I knew it was late. Sora shot up like a bullet, rocketing out of the tent and almost straight onto a Shadow's claw. I pulled him back in by the hood of his jacket, and he summoned the Keyblade just in time to avoid the strike. I slipped my shoes back on quickly, summoning my daggers as Sora stood. We raced from the tent, and I intercepted a Fire spell from a Wizard as it came our way. Donald, Goofy and Ping were in the fray as well, along with Shang and just about every other soldier here. The Heartless had attacked in the dead of night, and they seemed to know our weakest link. They kept heading for Ping, much to his annoyance. But instead of just standing there, waiting for the attacks, he met them head on to destory the Shadows. One last Wizard plagued us for a good ten minutes before it headed for Shang's tent, and the explosives inside. The Captain tried to head it off, but was thrown aside by it's claws. Goofy threw his shield at the Dark creature, and Donald cast Thunder at the moment the metal disk hit it, increasing the spell's power. It was enough to finish it off, leaving only a hot metal shield behind. Shang stood, adressing his troops. "Men! We leave at once, it's time we attack." Every soldier saluted, and raced back to thier tents to pack up anything they'd brought. Sora and I ducked back into our tents to roll up our bed rolls, and were out of our tent just as Chien-Po picked up the last explosive barrel and set it onto a cart. Shang walked over to us, eyes set on the Mountains. "We need to proceed through the Pass. This most recent attack came from nowhere, we are no longer safe here. I want your group to clear the pass, we will follow with the explosives. Can you do this?" Sora nodded, handing our bedrolls to the waiting Yao. We led the way through the darkened Checkpoint and into the Pass, Sora stopping as we first encountered the rock wall blocking our passage. Shang came up to us on his horse, and sighed. "I was afraid of this. The Earthquake from yesterday has blocked our path, we'll need to blast our way through." He ordered Chien-Po to set a few explosive barrels near the rocks, then called all the soldiers back and tried to light a match. But none caught fire in the wet night air, leaving Shang frustrated and the Darkness creeping up on us. I fidgeted, sensing it coming. Sora looked at me strangely, before he looked skyward with a sick look on his face. He'd smelled it too. Shang returned to the cart to get another box of flint matches, and I took my chance, lighting the fuse with a Fire spell. It blew apart the rocks, and the Heartless waiting on the other side with a massive plume of smoke and light, sending rock shrapnel and Heartless guts flying into the air. Donald squawked, covering his head with his feathery arms as Ping ducked behind the cart. When the smoke cleared, Shang shook off his surprise and continued to lead the way. The explosion had scared off the rest of the Heartless, so we reached the village with no problems. As Chien-Po led the cart into town, Shang rode up to us. He met our eyes in turn, looking at Ping the longest. I think he knew she was a woman all along, but I didn't have proof. Goofy smiled. "Ping sure did great!" Donald nodded vehemently. "You bet he did!" Shang smiled slightly, just a hint of a quirk in his lips. "So I can see. Very well. Ping, you are allowed into my Troop." Ping smiled brightly, bowing in thanks. "Thank you Captain!" Shang nodded, and we entered the abandoned village. I looked over the little town with sadness in my heart. Shan-Yu had forced the people into hiding, and they'd fled to the Imperial City for refuge. Shang sighed as he dismounted his horse. "Men! We rest here until sunrise. After that, we continue up the Mountain to cut off Shan-Yu's movement. Prepare however you can, we are still in enemy territory." He led his horse off to the well, leaving us standing in the snow. Soldiers were claiming the empty houses, gently moving the furniture around to make room for one another without disturbing the belonging's of the families that had lived here before. We grabbed our bedrolls from Yao's cart, claiming a small house near the cave outside of town. There was enough room for all of us in one room, so we didn't go any further into the house than we had to. As I layed there, trying to get to sleep, I sighed. War was all around us, even on worlds supposedly untouched by the Heartless. I closed my eyes, rolling onto my side. Whatever would come, I'd handle it in the morning. Where ever you are, Riku, goodnight. I love you. ----- Riku sighed, leaning back against the rock wall of his hastily found shelter. He was in a world where it rained often, sending the people into hiding to avoid getting soaked. After a moment, he leaned his head on his knees. He'd give anything to be fighting alongside Christie and Sora right now, just like he'd done during the first year they'd been away from home. He missed those days, he missed home. Riku shook his head. He couldn't miss home that much. After all, home was just a place to belong. For it to be home, he had to be at her side. He had to be there to catch her when she fell, just like she'd been there for him. After being lost in his thoughts, Riku finally drifted off to the sound of the rain. Where ever you are Chris, Goodnight. I love you... ---- Dawn came to soon for Sora, according to the boy in question. I just laughed, rolling up my Bedroll and heading outside into the snow. Of course, after smelling breakfast on the wind as I opened the door, everyone in our shared room bolted from the house and ran into the foodline. I stood there, clutching the door as I laughed. It was a funny sight, to see two fully grown adults squabbling over who got more rice. I took the offered bowl from the man on kitchen duty, and picked at my food as I watched the soldiers follow orders. Shang was at the head of the operation, and he did his job well. Sora tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to face the little group that had assembled while I was eating. Ping had his hands on his hips, and was staring down at Mushu. "Mushu, no. It's to dangerous. We can't take on Shan-Yu on our own, and you know it!" Mushu fidgeted. "But, but, but, but....." Ping shook his head. "But then again, we're not alone. After all, Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy are here too." We all nodded, and Mushu perked back up as Ping leaned down to be at his level. "Now, where did you see him?" "At the cave near the Mountain! He can't have left yet!" Mushu led the way into the Village Cave. The entrance was lined with explosive carts, but the cave itself was a dead end with a small shrine at the back. Sora shook his head. "It's a dead end." I frowned, heading into the cave. "There's nobody here Mushu." The little dragon blinked in shock, hanging onto Ping's shoulder. "You're crazy. Check again!" We did, checking the cave from top to bottom. There was still no one here, and Donald sighed. "Oh well...." He left the cave, with Goofy on his heels. Sora began to run after them, but stopped as the Cave shook beneath our feet. Ping looked up as dust fell around us, and Mushu clung to his hair. "What? What's going on?" Sora bolted for the exit, stopping cold as a Barrier shot up to block his passage. The honeycomb patterned light was impossible to step through, although we could hear Donald and Goofy's protests. Summoning my daggers, I stepped further into the cave. Sure enough, the Heartless appeared. A dozen odd Shadows, and two Assualt Rider's. The Shadow's fell easily, but we all got bruised and bloodied by the Riders. When they were gone, the Barrier fell. Sora wiped a little blood off his mouth, hands on his knees. "Nice fighting Ping! You were amazing." Goofy and Donald came over to us, and Goofy placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "You ok, Sora?" The boy nodded, standing up straight. "Yeah. Thanks to Ping and Christie." Mushu hopped off Ping's shoulder, looking up at us. "C'mon! Time to report to the Captain!" I shook my head. "But Shan-Yu wasn't here." Mushu waved a hand. "Please! That Hun is old news! We're gonna tell the Captain how thousands of Heartless stormed the cave, and Ping took out every one of them!" I laughed behind my hand, and Sora rolled his eyes. Regardless of Mushu's story, we left the cave, only to come into a gust of smoke filled air. We all coughed until the air cleared, and when it did, we saw that the village had been burned to the ground. All that was left were some still burning piles of blackened wood and ash, standing out against the red snow. Almost a dozen soldiers were laying face down in the snow, as the survivors collected thier comrades body for a burial. Shang leaned against a still standing wall, as his horse nibbled on his singed cape. Ping ran to Shang's side, with us on his heels. "Captain!" Shang tried to stand, but ended up having to support himself on the wall. Sora leaned over. "Don't overdo it Captain!" "It's just a scratch." Just a scratch does not make people collapse, and that's exactly what Shang did. Ping leaned him against the wall, then put his hands on his knees. "Captain, the enemy! Where did they go?" Shang gestured towards the Mountain. "They went towards the Summit..." Shang closed his eyes, and only the gentle rise and fall of his chest told us he was still alive. The Medic came over, and with the help of two soldiers, carried the Captain into the Medical tent. Ping looked after them, looking almost disappointed. "We'll have to stop them before they do this again." Goofy nodded, rubbing the back of his heck. "It kinda is our fault..." Ping nodded, and Mushu stalked away near his feet. "You mean MY fault." I shook my head, and Sora and I kneeled over to look Mushu in the eyes. "Mushu, it's not your fault at all, ok?" Sora nodded. "Christie's right. Shan-Yu and Heartless did this, not us." We stood, and Sora looked over the Village, before turning to the Mountain." "Let's go." We ran through the snow, heading through the Ridge and onto the Summit. We arrived with no problems, but once on teh Summit, We had to duck to avoid getting our eyes gouged out by the hawks talons. It flew towards it's master, standing on the very top on the Summit. We all summoned our weapons, and Shan-Yu cleaved his sword through the air. "Attack!" Ping braced himself for human attackers, but only Rapid Thruster's came over the snow. At least two thousand of them came charging at us, and we began to hack through them. But there were just too many, and we were overwhelmed by the yellow creatures. Stinging with a wound on my hand, I didn't hear Shan-Yu's charge until he let loose a battle cry. More Heartless came after him, and Sora stepped back. Yao, Chien-Po and Ling arrived, carrying the last cannon. "Stand back!" "We'll handle this!" Yao set the cannon down onto the snow, and Ping looked from it's aim to the Mountain. Butting Yao away with his shoulder, Ping grabbed the cannon and raced away. He aimed it at a smaller peak loaded with heavy snow. Setting it down into the snow, Ping patted himself down looking for a flint match. When he didn't find one, he looked to Mushu. The red dragon tried to run away before Ping could grab him, but didn't get far enough before Ping snatched him up, stretching him so he breathed fire and lit the fuse. Mushu leapt out of Ping's hold just as the cannon took off, and he screamed. "You're going the wrong way!" The cannon hit the smaller peak, sending all the snow on top of it crashing down in an immense avalanche. Ping pumped a fist, and Sora and I turned as footsteps sounded behind us. "Yes!" "Captain?" Shang had arrived, and was walking straight into the path of the rushing snow. Ping looked between him and the falling white, and lept to his feet. "Look out!" The snow continued to race down from the Summit, taking Shan-Yu and the Rapid Thruster's with it as if folded and roiled like a tsunami. Ping took SHang by the hand, pulling him behind a rock away from the falling snow. Not wasting anytime, the boys and I followed after them quickly as the snow raced past us. The snow poured over the edge of the mountain, leaving us to catch our breath from the headlong run. Shang swallowed. "Thanks, Ping." "It was nothing." "I should never have doubted you. From now on, you have my trust." Ping smiled brightly bowing slightly. "Thank you, Captain!" Mushu popped out the snow, and began to run his mouth. "First she uses me as a lighter, then she turns me into a cannon ball! The head Ancestor's gonna hear about this! You know, that's it! I give up! I can't take this no more. C'mon Mulan, let's quit this charade and go home." "Mushu!" Shang looked from Mushu to Mulan. "Mulan? A woman? It can't be!" Mulan said nothing as we ran over to them, Sora calling out. "Ping! Captain!" Goofy sighed in relief as I winced. I knew that look. I called out to them. "Are you two ok?" Shang turned on us, glaring. "You all knew, didn't you? You all knew that Ping was really a woman in disguise!" We looked at eachother, trying to come up with an explanation. Shang stalked away. "The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the Army, is death. Get out of my sight...now. You're all dismissed." Sora raised one hand, looking after Shang. "But, Captain...." Shang shook his head. "My debt is repaid." He walked away, leaving us standing on the now clean Summit. Mulan sighed, and Mushu hopped up on her shoulder. "Mulan....I blew it...." Mulan shook her head, handing Mushu over to me as she shrugged out of her armor. She let her hair down, standing in front of us with her eyes determined. "Thank you everyone. Sorry I got you into trouble." Sora smiled, shaking his head. "It's no big deal. So Ping, sorry, Mulan, what're you gonna do now?" "Go back home." Mushu hopped from my arms and back onto Mulan's shoulder. "You know, your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling." Mulan sighed again, and Sora grabbed Donald and Goofy. I scurried away before they grabbed me into thier group hug, and I stood behind Sora with a smile. "Relax Mulan. We'll take our share of the blame too." Mulan smiled. "Thanks. You're all wonderful friends." She led the way off the Summit and back down onto the Ridge. I looked up as Shan-Yu's hawk flew over head, landing on a tree limb near where Shan-Yu burst out of the snow below us." Mulan and Sora leaned on thier hands on knees, looking at the evil man as he climbed down the Mountain. "Shan-Yu!" "He's alive?!" I looked to where he was headed, snarling. "He's heading for the Imperial City! We've got to warn the Captain!" Mulan nodded, and she led the way back to the checkpoint. No Heartless blocked our passage into the City, and Mulan raced ahead to try and catch up to Shang. "Shang!" He stopped, turning to face Mulan. "Shan-Yu is alive! He's headed this way!" Shang frowned, looking away. "And why should I believe you this time?" Sora looked at Shang with disbelief in his eyes, looking to me for help. I stepped forward. "She telling you the truth! We saw him pop out of the snow and come this way!" Shang glared, opening his mouth to speak, but Donald's sqauwk made us all look up onto the roof of the Palace. He smirked evilly, and began to jump from one roof to another as he scouted out a way into the Palace. Shang snarled. "Gaurd the Palace! Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!" Yao, Ling and Chien-Po charged the Palace to follow Shang's orders, but the other three soldiers just stood there. "That's on order!" The soldiers that had remained behind transformed into Heartless, leaving Shang speechless. Sora and I jumped in front of him, weapons in hand. Sora looked over his shoulder at the other man. "Captain! We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Shang stood still, until Donald stomped on his foot. "That's an order!" Shang nodded, coming to his senses and running to the main Palace entrance. The Heartless swarmed around us, Shadows, Wizards, and one Light Tower. It looked like a vertical brick with a round head peeking out deom the bottom end. It used that head as a weapon, throwing it around like a ping pong ball. Sora hit the ball back into it's hole with the Keyblade, destroying it. Once the rest of the Heartless were gone, we raced up the stairs to the Palace Gate, where Shan-Yu was holding the Emperor at sword point. "Now you bow to me!" As Mulan reached the top of the stairs, Shan-Yu turned to face her. His attention away from the Emperor, Shang jumped into the fray, knocking Shan-Yu away and helping the Emperor back into the Palace. Chien-Po and Ling slammed the gates closed as Shan-Yu stood, racing for the gates. We beat him to it, weapons drawn. Mulan stood determined. "It ends now!" Sora nodded, and I crossed my daggers. "Right now!" The hawk landed on his master's shoulder as he began to glow tih Darkness, laughing evilly. The hawk took off, and as Sora tried to parry Shan-Yu's blows, the hawk kept getting in the way. After ducking another swipe of the creatures talons to my face, I'd had enough. On it's next pass, I leapt on top of it, forcing it to the ground. It struggled beneath me, and I winced as the talons scored down my arms. Mushu noticed my distress, and ran over. He fireballed the chicken, making it lose all it's feathers. He rode it like a Chocobo, and I jumped back into the fray, intercepting a sword blow intended for Sora with my daggers. Shan-Yu jumped away, straight into Sora's blade. He fell over, clutching his side. As he faded away into the Darkness, his sword and hawk remained behind. Mushu, still riding his new mount, pumped one fist in the air. "Now that's what I call burning some hunny-bun! Aw yeah baby! Mulan's the best, Mulan's the best! No, wait a minute, I'm the best! Mushu's the best, Mushu's the best!" Sora and I laughed at the tiny dragon's antics, but stopped laughing as the Palace doors came open, letting the Emperor and Shang came out. The Emperor stood, staring down at Mulan sternly. "I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." She bowed to the Emperor, closing her eyes. "You stole your Father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated and Imperial soldier. You decieved your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese Army, and dishonered your family name." Sora put his hands on his hips. "We get the picture..." "You'e a young woman. And in the end...." Donald looked away, discouraged. "You have saved us all." The Emperor bowed to Mulan, and as she looked up to take in the situation, the crowd that had gathered in the square cheered, sounding like booming thunder. Sora, Donald, Goofy and I joined into the clapping, making Mulan blush. "Your Excellency!" The Emperor turned to Shang. "Captain Li?" Shang nodded, gently handing Shan-Yu's sword over to Mulan, the cloth wrapped blade sitting quietly in her hands. "Take this, so the world will know what you have done for China." Mulan bowed again, smiling. "Thank you." SHang took a deep breath. "Mulan." "Yes?" "Sora." "Sir?" "Christie." "Hmm?" "Donald." "Wak?" "Goofy." "Yes sir?" "Thank you." Shang bowed to us slightly, and the Emperor frowned. "'Thank you"? Is that really all you have to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that." Both the Emporer and Mulan laughed as Shang opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. Sora and I turned to Mulan. "Can we get your autograph?" Mulan smiled, gently hugging us both. "Thank you for everything, Sora, Christie." At our feet, Mushu was jumping around happily. "Now they GOTTA let me go back to bieng a Guardian, they just GOTTA!" Goofy tilted his head . "But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family gaurdian!" Mushu blanched, backstepping away from us "What? Oh, no, no, don't even worry about that, that's just real technical. Just for us Gaurdians." Sora's jaw dropped. "You tricked us!" Both Sora and I ran after the little Dragon, but stopped as Mulan gasped. Shan-Yu's sword was glowing in her hand, floating into the air as Sora raised his Keyblade. A chilled wind blew across the courtyard, and I heard the roar of a mysterious creature and smelled roses. "Beast's Castle...." Donald smiled happily, jolting me from my thoughts as Goofy and Sora sighed. "Guess it's time we get moving." The Emperor crossed his arms. "You shall be missed." I tilted my head. "Is it okay, if we come back to visit sometime?" Mulan nodded. "Of course!" Shang smirked. "We will look forward to your return." Sora put his hands on his hips, smiling at Shang and Mulan. "You two play nice now!" Shang and Mulan blushed, stepping away from one another. Mulan giggled, Mushu jumping onto her shoulder as we headed down the stairs. "Goodbye, Sora, Christie, Donald, Goofy!" We waved goodbye over our shoulders, heading back to the Checkpoint for the Transport Beacon. Infinity beamed us back aboard, and I set the data for the next world. Sora leaned back in his chair, smiling as he closed his eyes. "You know how you said you just knew that Riku was ok, Chris?" I nodded, pulling Infinity out of China's airspace. "Well, I think I know what you mean. I can feel him too, I know he's ok." Sora and I smiled, letting Infinity take us to where ever the Keyblade would lead. It knew best, after all. ----- A/N: I had a bit of trouble writing Shang's reaction to Christie, but I managed after realizing that he respected good fighters. Since she's been fighting for at least 4 years, she's a good fighter. Anyway, I hope you liked it! Silver
Jap: Sora said Ansem becuase Namine restored his memories to before Christie explained the situation. ANyway, here's the next chapter. ---- Last time: Sora Awoke from his year long slumber, and has set off for Yen Sid's tower. What awaits him there? --- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- The train ride took at most half an hour, all of which Sora slept through. When the train rolled to a stop at Yen Sid's tower, I shook Sora awake. "We're here." The boy nodded, standing as Donald, Goofy and I left the train. He followed after us, but turned as the train vanished. He chuckled nervously. "There goes our ride..." Shaking his head, Sora ran to catch up to us. We all stood at the base of the tower, and I raised an eyebrow. Some one was blocking the door with their massive bulk. Donald crossed his feathered arms over his chest. "What's goin' on?" The male blocking the door didn't even turn around, just spoke. "I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and as tough as they say. Word id, he's a real powerful sorcerer. Which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me. See, it don't matter how how tough he is, once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!" Donald stepped back, and I snapped my fingers. Now I knew what was going on. With Sora's memories bieng restored, some of my own memories had changed. Sora had said they'd defeated Ansem, when he fully knew it was Xehanort. And now, I was forgetting who the enemy was. Shaking my head, I nearly missed Pete's response to Donalds confused squawk. "That's right. They're those things that come outta the Darkness in folk's hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything! And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' around to a bunch of different worlds and building an army of Heartless, special for her." He shook his head, and I had to bite back a laugh. "Oh, why am I talking to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on, Scram! I'm behind schedule as it is." Goofy shook his head. "You oughta find something nicer to do." Pete tensed, finally moving out of the doorframe as he turned. "Say's who?!" His eyes widened, surprised to see two member's of our group. "Wha...AAHH! It's you!" Donald and Goofy stepped back, surprised to see Pete as he was to see them. "Pete!" "What're you two nimrods doing here?!" Donald glared. "What're you doing here?!" Sora and I turned to Goofy, looking for an answer. "You know him?" Goofy nodded. "We sure do! Pete's been causing trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped..." Pete laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! And now your world, no, no, no, all the worlds, are gonna belong to yours truly! Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em." We all smiled, and Sora shot me a look that said enough. "Maleficent, huh?" It was too much, and we all broke out laughing. Pete didn't take that well, and he almost started fuming at the ears. "What are you all laughing at?! Why Maleficent's power is so great that she...." "She's toast!" Sora was just recovering from his laughing fit, and the look on Pete's face sent him straight back into it. I looked to Pete, still smiling. "Sorry, but Maleficent can't help you anymore." "Whaddaya mean?" The look on his face was too much, and we all started laughing again. Pete glared. "You! So you're the ones who killed her!" Sora smiled, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Well, we mighta had something to do with it." Pete snarled, bouncing up and down from one foot to the other in his anger. "Heartless Squad! Round Up!" We all stepped back, and I glared at the Shadow's popping up from the ground. Sora summoned the Kingdom Key as I called my Daggers back from the void, and we leapt into combat. The biggest problem was one little Shadow that kept ducking underground, popping out only to trip us up. After at least a dozen falls from the creature, Donald had had enough. Sticking his staff into the ground, he unleashed a spell that knocked us off our feet. "Break!" The Shadow was literally forced out of the ground and into the air, where it became an easy target for Sora to handle. As it faded away, Pete snarled at us. "You just wait! Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!" Sora snickered. "So, "mighty" Pete, who lives in this tower anyway?" Pete smirked, and I stepped closer to Sora in case the dogman was going to try anything else. "Oh, ya don't know, eh? Well it's old Yen Sid. Course, he's probably a Heartless by now!" Donald gasped. "Master Yen Sid lives here?!" He ran up the stairs, ducking under Pete's arm. Sora and I looked to Goofy. "Yen Sid was the King's Teacher." Sora nodded, and we ran up the stairs after Goofy. Before the doors slammed shut behind us, I saw Pete staring at us with wide eyes as he tried to pick up his jaw. We fought through Shadow's and Soldiers, with little to no problems until we reached the Star Room. In there, we faced a dozen Shadows and a single Large Body. The Shadow's fell to magic easily enough, but the Large Body was having fun knocking us around. After Sora and I crashed into each other, I'd had enough. I turned to Sora. "Give me a boost to get around that thing, I've got an idea." Sora nodded, and we ran at the creature. Suddenly, the boy stopped. I jumped off his shoulders, bouncing off the creatures head and slashing at it from behind. Still blinking in shock at the smarts of its target, the crazy thing faded away into a puff of black smoke. Donald stood, tapping one webbed foot. "Heartless, Heartless, Heartless! Things haven't changed one bit!" Goofy tilted his head, and I dusted myself off. "Well, it's a good thing we're on the job then." Sora looked to me. "So, the worlds aren't at peace after all...." We continued up the stairs and into the Sorcerer's Loft. Donald and Goofy bowed to the ancient wizard, while Sora and I simply stood. Still bowing, Donald spoke up. "Master Yen Sid, it's an honor." I nodded curtly, but Sora was more casual. "Hey there." Donald and Goofy stared at the boy in shock, and the duck tugged the boy down by his shirt. "Sora! Show some respect!" Yen Sid raised a hand, calming Donald down. He looked to me and Sora, and I could swear he lingered a moment longer on me. I stayed close to Sora, not trusting this man as far as I could throw him. "So, you are Sora and Christina. Now then, have you seen the King yet?" Goofy nodded. "Yes, we did Master. But we didn't get a chance to talk to him." Yen Sid nodded pensively. "Yes...The King has been quite busy as of late. Therefore, it would seem the task of instructing the four of you falls upon my shoulders. You've a perilous journey ahead of you. You must be well prepared." Sora looked at the man behind the desk, and my heart cracked at his tone. Sora was just as tired of all this as Riku and I were. This wasn't fair. "You mean...we have to go on another quest? I was looking forward to finding my friend Riku, so we could home together..." Yen Sid nodded, but I noticed something, almost sinister in his eyes. Was he trying to....no, he wouldn't, would he? "Yes, I know. However. Everything in your journey, Sora, Christina, is connected. Whether you will find your way home to the Islands, whether you will return alone or with your friends, and, whether or not the Islands will still be there." I snarled. Now I knew. Yen Sid was trying to break Sora down. Clenching a fist, I glared at the Wizard but stayed my blade. Sora looked down at his hands, looking up as the Wizard continued in his speech. "And the Key that connects them all is you, Sora." Sora blinked, jaw dropping slightly. "I'm, the Key?" He held out one hand, and the Kingdom Key appeared. Yen Sid smiled, making me uneasy. "Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade! You are the Key that will open the door to Light." Sora nodded, and I took a deep breath. Why was I thinking of flying off the handle at this guy with a rant? Yen Sid looked to Donald and Goofy, and they stood up straight with a nod. The Ancient Wizard waved a hand over the table, conjuring a thick book. He made it float into the air, and it spun towards Sora and I. It opened, landing on the edge of the desk. "This Book contains valuable knowledge you will need for your journey. Study it carefully. Once you have all finished, we will speak of the enemies you will surely confront." I nodded, taking the book from the edge and returning to the staircase just outside the loft. We all plunked down in various places near the door, and I read out the passages Yen Sid had meant. "The Beginning - Each Journey gives rise to chance encounters, and each encounter brings forth a farewell. When a farewell leads to a Journey, the Worlds open their Hearts. Those chosen by the Light, or ensnared by the Darkness. Friends that share the same bonds, though thier paths may differ. When you doubt the path trod thus far, when the hand you held is lost to you, gaze anew at the Heart that once was...for all the answers are within." I looked up at Sora, for the boy had begun to pace up and down the stairs. When he waved a hand in a "continue" gesture, I nodded. Turning the page in the old book, I read the next passage. "Interlude - A long Dream. A sad farewell, hanging in the air in that "world between". What is reality? What is Illusion? The path chosen by the young boy leads to his memories. When caught in the stream of the days and nights going past, gaze once more at your steps...for there all confusion will end." Sora kept pacing, so I returned to my reading. "The Future Story - Will the day come when this battle, born of confusion, will end? It is different things to different people. Can the reality be that which is hidden? The reason is mere existence. Still, memories can be believed. Be not afraid, entrust your body to the soothing waves of your memories. By and By, your fleeting rest will be over....and everything will begin." I shut the book with a loud thunk, making Sora stop pacing. He looked over the edge of the staircase, then turned on his heel and pushed open the door to the loft again. Donald, Goofy and I followed him in, and I set the book down onto the desk. Sora looked at Yen Sid. "How come the Heartless are still running around?" "Your past endeavours did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great Darkness; make no mistake about that. However, the Heartless are Darkness made real. And Darkness lingers yet in every Heart. The Heartless are fewer, yes, but while Darkness exists in a single Heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them." The boys sighed, and even I couldn't supress the slight sag in my posture. Goofy started. "Gawrsh, that must mean...if everybody's heart ws full of Light, them Heartless'd go away!" Yen Sid nodded. "Now it is time to speak of the enemies you will encounter." He waved a hand to the far wall, and an Image of Donald appeared in the pillar of light. It then changed to a Shadow Heartless. "If one such as you, Donald, yields to the Darkness in their Heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this already, for the Heartless are ever lurking and seeking to capture new Hearts. Never let your gaurd down!" He waved his hand again, and the Shadow now stood alongside a Dusk. "At times, if someone with a strong Heart and will, be they evil or good, becomes a Heartless, the empty shell that is left behind behind begins to act with a will of it's own." The Shadow suddenly disappeared, leaving the Dusk swaying alone in the pillar of light. "An empty vessel who's Heart has been stolen away...A spirit that goes on, evem as it's body fades from existance. For you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all. Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse. They only pretend to have Hearts, you must not be decieved." I clenched my fists, and despite both Griever's protests and my own better judgement, I snapped. Slamming a fist onto Yen Sid's desk, I glared at the old wizard with enough anger in my eyes to make him press back against his seat. "That's not true. I don't care what rule book you go by, I don't care what sense of "good or evil" you use, Nobodies have feelings! I had to watch two people very important to me get thier Hearts broken because a person they LOVED was dying. The catch? They're supposedly HEARTLESS NOBODIES!" I stood there, sides heaving as Yen Sid looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights of a semi-trailer. After a moment, he recovered enough to answer. "Now Christina, that's all well and good, but Nobodies don't feel anything. They've no heart, and so, they've no emotion." The Wizard winced, realizing he'd just dug himself into a deeper hole. Even Sora stepped back as I slammed my hand onto the desk once more, making the Wizard jump. "The Heart doesn't give emotion. It's the SOUL that does. For you see Yen Sid, not everything is black and white, good or evil. There is a Grey Scale in the middle." I stepped back, my point made. Shaking his head, Yen Sid continued his explanation. "Yes, well, now then. The being you see before you is known as a Dusk. They are the most common form of Nobody. But there are others, some larger, some with frightening and unique powers. Be ever vigilant. On your journeys, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm." The images of the Dusks vanished, but the pillars remained. "Still, the Dusks are nothing but empty shells, destined to return to the Darkness. However..." He waved his hands, and three men in black cloaks suddenly appeared. We all took a step back, and Sora was beginning to look a little scared. "The beings you see before you now are very different. These powerful Nobodies have formed a Group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies." Sora tilted his head. "Organization XIII...." He looked at me after Donald and Goofy had shaken thier heads, and I nodded. His eyes widened, but he said nothing. I knew he'd try to get an explanation out of me later, but I'd handle that when the time came. For now however, Yen Sid had the floor. "While Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a higher manner. They can think and plan, and it seems they are working towards a goal. What that goal is, we do not know. The King sensed the danger, and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the Dark Realm's Keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now he's traveling from world to world, fighting the Heartless as he seeks the answer to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII." The Images of the Organization disappeared, and Sora turned to face Yen Sid again. "Then I guess we'd better go find the King first." Donald nodded, but tapped his foot against the ground. "But where could he be?" Goofy shrugged. "Well Donald, we won't know until we look!" Sora nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah. And since you don't know where Riku is, Chris, maybe the King does." I nodded, it was a possibiliy they'd run into each other after Riku had left my side, however slim it was. Yen Sid's voice jolted me out of my thoughts again, but his tone was much more amiable this time. "So, before you go, you will need more suitable traveling clothes. Those look a tad too small for you. Christina, you'll need enchantments on the ones you wear now as well, so as to avoid any life threatening injuries." As Sora and I nodded, Yen Sid motioned towards a door on the other side of the room. "Through there, you'll find three good Fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you more, appropriate, garments." Donald and I snickered as Sora began to pull on his clothing. The only one not laughing was Goofy. "Gawrsh Sora, you sure are growing fast." Still tugging on his clothes, Sora didn't notice me until I'd trapped him in a noogie hold. "That's becuase he's almost 17!" Sora blinked, then laughed as I dragged him into the wardrobe where the Fairies hustled and bustled, preparing various things. Sora stopped laughing and wrestled his way from my hold. "Me, you three, Riku and the King. I don't care who this Organization is, or what they're planning, but with the six of us, there's nothing to worry about, right?" Donald nodded, voicing his agreement very loudly. "Yeah!" Flora turned to us, smiling brightly. "Well, looks who's here dears! Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy!" Merryweather smiled. "Ooh, if you're looking for clothes you've come to the right place!" Fauna and Merryweather pulled Sora away from our little group, as Flora summoned me over. "Wait just a moment dear, we must deal with Sora first." I nodded, and leaned back against the wall to watch the show. Fauna sent out the first spell, turning Sora's still too small clothes a shade of dark green. Merryweather shook her head as she sent out a spell. "Oh, that will never do!" This spell turned Sora's clothes blue, and Flora looked to her sisters. "Now, now dears." She sent out a spell of her own, turning Sora's clothes a dark pink. Donald snickered, these three just couldn't decide on anything! "But don't you like this better?" "Hold on!" Sora sent me a look, and I shrugged. He pouted at me, and I sighed. This kid. "Are you certain?" "Blue!" The Fairie's continued to exchange spells, before Sora had enough after another of Fauna's spells. "Will you three just decide?!" The women gasped, then turned to eachother and nodded. "All right then. Together now dears, and no more squabbling." All three Fairie's turned to Sora, casting a spell in unison. After the light cleared, Sora was staning in black shorts, a dark blue tank top with a red pouch on the abdomen, and a black short sleeve jacket with silver shoulder pads. Red and golden bands criss-crossed over his shorts, and held up two bright red pouches. Sora nodded, letting the Kingdom Key appear in his hand. The Fairie's were smiling brightly, and I nodded. "Oh my!" "Ooh, it's lovely." "Oh yes! He does look very dashing!" Sora blushed slightly at this, and I had to supress a giggle. When Kairi got her hands on him, oh boy! Flora turned away from her sisters and back to Sora. "Now, those aren't ordinary garments." Fauna nodded. "They have very special powers." Flora conjured up a glowing yellow orb, which hovered in front of Sora. "Take the orb dear." Sora extended a hand, and the orb was absorbed into him. Merryweather smiled. "And watch what happens." For a moment, nothing happened. Then all of a sudden, Sora curled into himself in midair, and with a flash of white, his clothes had turned red and there was a second keyblade in his hand. Sora jumped when he saw that. "Whoa!" As the boys were examining the new clothes and keyblade, Flora turned to me. "Now dearie, it's your turn. All you'll need is a few enchantments, since you're obviously quite comfortable in those clothes of yours." At my nod, she waved her wand. A golden shield appeared in front of me, then disappeared. Flora smiled, then turned to frown at Merryweather. "This Journey's gonna be twice as difficult as your last." Sora sighed, head falling to his chest. Flora frowned at her sister, then turned to Sora. "Your garments also have other powers, but you will have to discover what they are you continue on your journey." Sora nodded, and the second Keyblade vanished as he returned to normal. "Ok, I'll do my best. And thanks a lot!" I echoed his sentiment, and as we left the room, Fauna spoke up. "Oh, and there's something else for you, from Master Yen Sid." Donald smiled, and we ran off into the Loft one more. Yen Sid was standing at the window, and he motioned us over. I had to smile as Infinity came into view. I turned to Yen Sid. "How did you find her?" The old Wizard smiled. "My dear, never underestimate a little magic." I nodded, and the four of us stood up straight. Yen Sid raised a hand. "Now now, just a moment." We all slouched a little. "Becuase of your previous endeavours, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared." Donald sagged over. "How do we get around?" Yen Sid turned to the duck. "Do not fear. If what the King suspected proves true, the worlds have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. However, I'm afraid I do not know how these gates are opened, but I'm certain that the Keyblade will serve as your guide. When a beam of Light radiates from its tip, return to Infinity. Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, the nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties. As do our Hearts." Sora and I nodded, sharing a look. "Our hearts are connected." "That is correct Sora. But be warned. As you proceed, the Heartless and the Nobodies will be using their own paths, corridors of Darkness to travel from world to world. They may be attempting to link these Dark pathways to the gates between the worlds." Donald seethed, pounding his foot on the floor. "Hey! That's not fair!" Yen Sid shook his head "Perhaps, but it is the way things are. Now then, that is all the information I can give to you. Go forth, Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy. Everyone is waiting for you." Sora nodded, and we all stood up straight. We all saluted the Wizard. "Master Yen Sid!" "We sure do appreciate the help!" We ran from the loft, and onto a transport beacon. From there, we boarded Infinity. She came alive as I settled into the Captains chair once more. "Captain! Welcome home!" I smiled, turning power back to the engines as Sora loaded the Shield Program onto it's terminal. "Good to be back Infinity, up for a flight?" "Ready and awaiting destination." "Head home Infinity, it's time to get this show on the road." ---- Hollow Bastion. This place, it's my home. But in a way, it's not. Regardless of that, it hasn't changed all that much over the past few years. The Town, after Nii-san led the people back home, is still the same as ever. The Castle however, fell apart after Maleficent abandoned it, leaving it to be repaired. As I walked behhind them, the boys ran to the ledge that overlooked the Castle. "It's Hollow Bastion!" "Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now..." Donald hopped off the ledge. "I hope Leon and others are doing ok..." I nodded, heading down the stairs and into the Market. "They're fine. It's only been a couple of days since I saw them last, so I'm sure they're still safe." I led the way into the Burrough, and jumped back with a yelp as the Town's defense mechanism popped out of the ground, scanned us, then faded away after flashing green. Donald looked this way and that. "Hey! What's going on?" "That's the towns defense mechanism. Cid set it up just last night, and it works like a dream." We all looked up to the nearby ledge, and Sora smiled brightly. "Yuffie!" She waved, then gasped at something appearing behind us. "Look out!" She tossed one of her shuriken, cutting down a Dusk that would have taken off Sora's head in one swing. We fought away the remaining ones, with the TDM helping out quite a bit. Once tthey were gone, Yuffie hopped off the platform and down to our level. "I see you're still in top form." Sora smiled. "What'd you expect? Look's like you're doing okay too." Yuffie smiled brightly, hands on her hips. "Well, what'd you expect?" "How're the others?" "They're great! Everything turning out ok so far." Sora nodded, then turned to Yuffie as she was still hopping around. "Hey, Yuffie, have you seen the King or Riku?" Yuffie walked towards Merlin's house, still smiling. "Nope. But I had a feeling that I'd be seeing you guys again." Sora nodded, putting on hand on his face. I laughed as he tried to imitate Leon. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." Yuffie raised an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be Leon? Well anyway, everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's place, C'mon!" She led the way into Merlin's house, where Leon. Aerith and Cid were all hunched at a computer that hadn't been there the last time I was here. "Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie's fanfare caused the three near the computer to jump, and Aerith smiled. "We missed you!" Cid smirked, looking happy for once. "Well, if you ain't in top shape." Leon nodded, actually smiling. "I knew it." Sora tilted his head as we walked closer. "Knew what?" "A while back, everyone started to remember you three, all at the same time." Sora crossed his arms. "You...remembered? Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us?!" I bit back a laugh at Donald's rightly annoyed reaction. "Thanks!" Yuffie walked over to Leon, then looked to Sora. "So, where've you three been all this time?" "We were sleeping." Cid scoffed. "Where? In cold storage?" I knew he was bieng sarcastic, but I don't think the boys did, becuase Sora began to dance from one foot to the other nervously. Aerith shook her head at Cid, then turned back to us. "It doesn't matter. This is great! Everyone's together again!" Sora nodded, biting his lip. "So, um...we're trying to find Riku and the King. Have you seen 'em?" Nii-san nodded, and Sora immediatly pounced. "Where?!" "In here, two days ago." Sora sagged. "Two days ago?! Oh man..." Aerith winced. "Sorry. But let us know if there's anything we can do to help, ok?" Sora nodded. "Yeah. Thanks Aerith." Cid got up into Sora's face. "Don't go thankin us just yet, mini-spike." I stuck my tongue out at Cid, the old coot had just nicknamed Sora after Cloud. Leon leaned back against the wall stiffly. "Hollow Bastion's got a problem, a big problem." I tilted my head. "Lemme guess, Heartless and Nobodies." "Yeah." Sora smiled lacing his fingers behind his back. "Sounds like you could use our help." "Then let's cut to the chase. Sora, Christie, Donald, Goofy. We were hoping the four of you might give us a hand around here." Sora thumped his chest with a fist, smiling proudly. "Like we're going to say no?" Yuffie giggled, and Leon nodded. "I forgot who I'm dealing with." Donald glared at the man. "Hey...what do you mean by that?" Aerith smiled gently. "Just think of it as a sort of "Leon Compliment." The man in question was already halfway out the door, and he turned with the door wide open. "Follow me to the Bailey. There's something you should see." I ran after him, ducking around Merlin as the old Wizard appeared. I could vaguely hear him explain Magic to Sora again, and as Aerith gave the boys their membership cards. I was halfway up the stairs when Sora nearly bowled into me as he raced up the stairs. I shook my head, dusted myself off and led the way into the Bailey. Inside, Leon was leaning over the ledge that looked out across the Great Maw. He looked up when we entered the are, and pointed out across the fields. "Look at that." Sora stepped back in shock at the sheer amount of Heartless just waiting at Villians Vale. Leon nodded. "We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be. Who knows, maybe even something better. There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything. Except.... for that...." He pointed to the castle, barely visible from our current location, and then into the Canyon, where two Dusks were headed towards the Castle. "And that..." Sora nodded, looking up at Leon. "We'll handle them." Leon smiled slightly at the boy. "That's good to hear. Sora, Christie, do you two know what's going on then?" I nodded, hopping up onto the ledge. "There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless. But he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes, let alone stage an uprising. The one's we'll need to worry about are the Nobodies." Sora nodded. "And the Organization XIII that commands the little ones too." "You called?" I jumped from the ledge, calling my daggers to my hands. Sora bolted out into the open area, looking around. "Who's that?!" He called the Keyblade, still looking around. "This calls for a celebration..." Donald yelped, barely getting away as a Dusk swiped at his face. Goofy helped his friend up, then turned and knocked a Dusk out of the air with his shield. As the Dusks raced for the town gate, they met metal as Leon slammed the gate shut with a metallic "clang" "Don't let them get past the gate! If they reach Town we're done for!" Sora nodded, and we jumped into action. After the Dusk's were gone, the Samurai's appeared. Sora and Leon were forced onto the defensive when one Samurai tried to take both thier heads off, but suddenly, Sora was behind it and the creature was falling onto the ground, beaten. I blinked in surprise. I'd thought that Reaction Commands weren't going to be a part of things here, but I was wrong again. As the last Samurai vanished, Sora raced back into the open. "The Keyblade...A turly marvelous weapon. Were it only in more capable hands..." Six laughs rang out, and Leon and I ran out to stand behind Sora in case of trouble The boy in question snarled. "Show yourselves!" We all looked up as six black cloaked figures appeared on the ledge above us. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saïx, Demyx and Luxord. Axel and Roxas had turned traitor, and the rest were all dead. They were down to less than half, and that was a good thing. Xemnas raised his arms, and Goofy raised his shield. "Organization XIII!" Sora nodded, smirking. "Good! Now we can finish this!" Leon grabbed Sora's hood, keeping the boy from running headlong into danger. "What a shame...And here I thought we could be friends." They all laughed, and Donald yelled. "Stop!" He raced down the stairs with us on his heels, as Xigbar appeared to block his way. Donald raised his staff in anger. "What's the big idea?!" "Oopsy-daisy!" Sora glared. "Move!" The man ignored him. "Now, do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" Sora snarled, and I glared at the man in front of us. Part of me was grateful fro Xigbar getting in our way, we'd have stood no chance against Xemnas at that moment, but the rest of me was very pissed off. "He said to get out of the way!" Xigbar scoffed. "As if! You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing." Donald seethed. "Then we're gonna MAKE you move!" "See, that would work. If I were just any old dude. 'Cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing "any old" about me." Sora scoffed. "Ha! Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did all the fighting!" "Oh dear. I think you've got the wrong impression." Xigbar wagged a finger at us. Sora laughed. "You gonna cry?" "As if! Why don't I remind you just how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?" Sora frowned. "Remind me?" He shook his head, and Xigbar laughed. "That's RIGHT! he used to give that same exact look!" Sora glared, grip on the Keyblade tightening enough to turn his knuckles white beneath his gloves. "I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!" Xigbar shrugged. "Gee...I just don't know." He spread his arms as if challenging us to strike him, but he soon lowered them. "Be good kids now!" Donald jumped up, trying to pounce on Xigbar before the portal closed. He ended up face first on the ground. "Nuts. He got away!" As Donald dusted himself off, Sora crossed his arms. "That was wierd...WHO gave him the exact same look?" I shook my head, I knew that Roxas had given Xigbar that same look, but Sora didn't. It was probably best to leave it at that. Goofy shrugged. "Y'know, I think he was just trying to confuse you." Sora nodded. "Yeah, you're right. There's only one me." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his Membership card. "The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member---" Sora gasped, letting go of the card as it suddenly began to glow. The Keyblade glowed in turn, trying to reach the card. Sora looked from the Card to the Keyblade, confused. Leon walked up behind us. "What's this?" I turned to Sora. "Sora, I think that's a Gate." The boy nodded, and we all yelped as a harsh wind began to blow through the Bailey. Donald and Goofy stepped away from Sora as a glowing crown symbol appeared below the boy. The card turned into a Keyhole, and beyond that Keyhole, I could see smoke and hear the cries of war. The Land of Dragons.... I was jolted from my thoughts as Sora sealed the open Keyhole, and his card reappeared in his hand. "Ohh...Now I get it. That was one of the Gates that Yen Sid talked about." He turned to Leon. "Sorry to run Leon, but other worlds are calling." Leon nodded, then frowned. "Organization XIII...They look tough. You four be careful out there, ok?" We nodded, and Leon escorted us back to the Harbor where Infinity was docked. The boy's ran on ahead into the ship, but I lingered a moment longer. Leon smiled. "See ya soon." He saluted us, and I clambered aboard my ship as it began to take off. We entered open airspace, and I frowned at the readings I was getting. I turned over my shoulder, calling to Sora. He walked over to the cockpit, and rubbed his eyes. "But, how is that possible?" I shook my head. "I don't know. Most worlds just don't vanish into thin air like that, so it's pretty strange." Still confused, Sora took his seat next to me. I turned Infinity around to face the Land of Dragons, and we were off. ---- A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this! I'm finally back in my element of writing KH Stories. The ending is a bit abrupt, but I like it. See ya soon! Silver
Well, I like different. Heehee, here's the next part. We're finally getting somewhere with this! --- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- From the outside, Merlin's house was calmy soaking the mid-morning sun. On the inside however, it was a disaster. Aerith, Christie and Yuffie were running this way and that, too and from the kitchen and living room, trying to save Axel's life. Upstairs however, it was a different story. Roxas was pacing the length of the spare bedroom he, Naminé and Cloud were in, hands still covered in blood. Naminé was lying on the bed, eyes red from her sobs. Cloud was there for both security and comfort, as he'd gone through this before, when he was thier age. Leon, Vincent and Riku were waiting in the hall, as Merlin was downstairs helping the girls however he could. They'd found out, much to the old wizard's detestment, that Cure spells didn't work on people without hearts. As such, they were forced to this the old fashioned way, hot water, cloths, and stitches. Merlin heated the water, while Christie and Yuffie ran it to Aerith and refilled the pans with cold water from the kitchen faucet. It was a harrowing morning for three people there, and after she'd been chased from the makeshirt operating room, Christie headed up the stairs. One look was shared between her and Riku, before she pushed open the door to where the blonds waited with baited breath. ---- I winced at the looks of hope Roxas and Naminé gave me, and felt like crying myself as I had to shrug. I didn't know what would happen to Axel now, it was up to Aerith to save his life. And it was up to Axel to either stay or go. Roxas resumed pacing as Naminé just sat there on the end of the bed, white dress stained crimson with Axel's blood. For a person without a physical heart, he bled as much as the rest of us. I sat against the wall, head buried in my knees. Becuase of my so called plan, Axel could be dead. Becuase of my stupid plan, Roxas and Naminé could be left alone for the rest of thier lives. Becuase of me, Axel might die. I think I sat there for an hour, just with my thoughts running around like trapped mice before running footsteps sounded outside in the hallway, and the door swung open. Naminé stood up quickly, and Roxas spun to face the door. A very tired looking Aerith stood in the door, with this gigantic smile on her face. "He's going to be ok!" Naminé started to cry again, but we all knew her tears were of relief this time. She and Roxas raced down the stairs, and from thier joyful cries, I knew Axel was awake. Even after Cloud left the room, I still sat there. Another pair of footsteps made me look up into Riku's eyes, and I took his hand as he helped me up. I nodded my thanks, then left the little house. I needed some air, I needed some time. I walked to the Bailey, hopped up onto one of the ledges and pulled my knees to my chest, barely noticing the dried blood on my hands flake off on my clothing. I looked out across the Great Maw, taking in the sea of Heartless near Villian's Vale and the brewing storm clouds on the horizon. We'd be getting rain soon, and that was a good sign. As I took a deep breath of the rain smelling air, I smiled at the second scent mixed with it. Despite his growth over the years, and the time we'd both spent in the Darkness, he still smelled like the Islands after the rain. It was comforting. I moved over slightly as Riku leaned against the ledge I sat on, and he draped both legs over the edge. "Axel's ok. Sore as hell, but he'll make it." I nodded, not trusting my voice anymore then I trusted my judgement at that moment. Riku gently captured my chin in his hands, making me meet his eyes. "It wasn't your fault. You know that as well as I do. As well as Axel, Roxas and Naminé know it." I nodded again, wiping my eyes with the heels of my palms. My voice cracked as I spoke up, and I looked away. "I know that. It doesn't make it any easier though. Had I come up with a better plan, had I moved through with the plan earlier, had I not fallen into DiZ's plan, all of this would be different." Riku nodded, slinging one arm around my shoulders. "Maybe. A better plan wouldn't have done any different, moving earlier would have tipped DiZ off, and we didn't see it coming. Maybe it would be different, maybe it wouldn't be. No one can know that Chris, ok?" I nodded into his shoulder, still not totally sure of myself. Riku hopped off the platform, taking my hand. "Come on, there's something we need to do." I blinked in surprise, letting him lead me back into town, and down into Merlin's place. The old wizard was drawing some kind of design on the floor in chalk, and he looked up when Riku and I entered the room. "Ah, Riku, Christina. Punctual as always, right on time." I tilted my head, what was he up too. Merlin stepped out of his design, moving to a small podium where this huge book layed open. He looked to Riku and I. "Well now, are you sure of this? Soul Bond's aren't something to throw away like used papers." I blinked in shock, Soul Bonds?! Riku rubbed the back of his neck as I glared at him, and Merlin sighed. "Christina, a Soul Bond is when two people, Lovers, Siblings, or a married Couple, wish to know where the other is at all times, in a compassion or affectionate state. They can feel what the other is feeling, and will know if thier bonded is injured or dying by any means. Riku says he's going away for a while, and I suggested a Soul Bond to keep you two safe." I nodded, I knew what a Soul Bond was. "I know that Merlin, but the bond needs to be formed on something substantial. Something of sentimental value must be used as a medium to connect the souls, or it'll never work." Riku smirked, laughing gently as he fished around in his cloak, catching a thin silver chain with a yellow star shaped crystal hanging off of it. I nodded, now it made sense. I'd given that to him for his seventeenth birthday, when we were still moving around before stumbling back into Traverse Town. We'd stumbled onto an Artisan Craft fair, and I'd had that necklace made with Mythril and a Thunder Shard. It was supposed to be a Paupu fruit, but I think it meant more to Riku now than it did then. My hand flew to my own neck, feeling the shell pieces beneath my fingertips. Riku's knowing look told me the rest, and he led me by the hand into the circle of chalk drawings. The moment we'd stepped through, I knew what to do. We laced our hands, and I laid my head on his chest, ear directly over his heart. I felt him rest his head on my hair, and vaguely heard Merlin chant in some unknown language. He shouted the final word, and the chalk around our feet began to glow. But I didn't notice it then, too wrapped up in the feelings I was getting. It was all kinds of things, love, protectiveness, care, and something I couldn't quite pick up on. Then I realized. I wasn't just picking up on Riku's emotions, I was picking up on his soul! It felt warm beneath my own, and if I had to describe it's color, it was this bueatiful pale blue that just didn't have a matching shade anywhere. But as quickly as it came, the feelings were gone and I was back in Merlins study, wrapped in Riku's arms. He seemed to be shaking beneath my hands, and Griever spoke up from my subconcious. Child, he knows about Earth. He knows about what he his in your old world. And he doesn't care. He loves you. I had to blink, my vision was blurring beneath my tears of relief. I backed out of Riku's hold, looking him in the eyes. Even though the amber hid many things from me, I could tell he didn't care about all that I knew. I just smiled, standing on the tips of my toes to reach his lips. For despite all the hardships we'd faced, despite what would happen, we were bonded now. And I wouldn't have it any other way. ---- "So, Roxas was supposed to spend six days in the Fake Town, not four." "Yeah. And when the time was up, he'd fade into Sora." "Ouch." I giggled slightly, burrowing deeping into Riku's hold. He'd taken the news that theses worlds were just a game on Earth quite well, and it had certianly cleared up some nagging question's he'd had. But of course, like most revalations, it just brought more. When he'd gotten that look in his eyes, I'd only shaken my head and led him back to the Bailey. It was here we sat now, with his back to the ledge wall and my back to his chest. Merlin had said we'd need to be in constant physical contact for the next couple of hours to avoid any reprecussions of the bonding. And as I'm sure you all can guess, neither of us really minded that. "I know you won't say much else, but did the games end, well, happily?" I nodded, shrugging slightly. "You, Sora and Kairi made it back to the Islands all safe and sound, but it ended on kind of a cliffhanger. I can't say if it'll happen here, but I do know we'll all make it back somehow." Riku nodded, happy with his answer. He suddenly shrunk back against the all, pulling me with him as he masked out precsense with Darkness. I smothered a yelp as I recognized the footsteps. It was Leon and Yuffie, but what were they doing here? Nii-san was looking more confused than I'd seen him in years, and Yuffie was looking hesitant and apprensive as Leon led her by the hand into the Bailey. There was a bulge in his side pocket, and I narrowed my eyes. Was that....oh, by Bahamut! Despite my want to scream in happiness for my brother, I settled for smiling ear to ear. I'd squeal later. Leon took a deep breath, getting on one knee in front of Yuffie. "Yuffie, I've known you since we were kids. Ever since then, you've made me smile. Even after the invasion, you kept me going. Coming home, I've come to be grateful for that." He licked his lower lip, and I bit my own as I felt Riku tense beneath me. For all his macho tactic's, Riku was really just a big softy when it came to romance. Leon shook his head, continuing his speach. "What I'm asking you, Yuffie, is...Will you marry me?" Yuffie's hands flew to her mouth, and she made an odd keening noise as she pounced onto my brother. "Yes, Yes, YES! I'll marry you Squall!" She stepped back, looking slightly apprehensive. "But, how will Chrissy take it? She won't want to lose her brother, even to me." Leon shook his head, and my jaw dropped. No matter what happened, Leon would always be my brother. He could marry a dozen girls and he'd still be my brother. I'd want to smack him one if he did that, but you get the picture. "I'm sure she'll understand. Besides Yuff, she already sees you as a sister. She always has. And don't say anything about the age, you're legal." Yuffie smiled, tilted her head with hands on her hips. "So, that's what you waiting for? My legality?" Leon nodded, and Yuffie extended one hand. "Well, you've got it." Slipping the ring from it's box, Leon put the golden band onto my new sister-in-law to be's finger. It really was a beautiful piece, and Yuffie was happy. I'd congratulate Nii-san later. Right now, I settled for cuddling up to Riku as the two we were watching kissed eachother full on the mouth, then left the Bailey hand in hand. Riku let the cover of Darkness slip, and I hopped off the ledge with this huge grin on my face. Riku was almost mirroring that look as he stepped down. "Well, that was a pleasent surprise. Shame we've got to leave soon." I nodded, understanding why. After the days event, Sora would need to be cared for. His memories were restored, it was DiZ I was worried about. He'd tried to kill Axel, and I wouldn't put it past him to try and kill Sora. As we walked back to Merlin's house, Vincent met us halfway there. "Axel wishes to see you both." I stopped midstep. I was not looking forward to that, no way in heck. Riku's hand on my back kept me walking towards the old wizards home, and once we were there, he laced his fingers with my own. Vincent nodded to the door of Axel's room, and I took a deep breath. As we stepped inside, I had to give my eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of proper lighting. The curtains were closed, and only a single lamp was turned on. After my eyes had adjusted, I sighed in relief. Axel was awake, leaning back against some pillows. Naminé and Roxas were both sound asleep, curled up on either side of him. Axel lifted a finger to his lips, then winced as the movement stretched his stitches. After a moment, he spoke up . "You two, can you promise me something?" Riku nodded, and I knew that Axel knew I would say yes, so he continued. "Squirt, I want you to promise me you'll be careful. Riku, take care of Squirt." We both nodded, and Axel smiled tiredly. "Good. Now shoo, I wanna sleep." Waving goodbye, I shoved Riku out the door and gently shut it behind me. We waved goodbye to everyone who was inside the house, heading back towards the Bailey. Leon was standing there, arms crossed over his chest. "So, you're leaving. Riku, can you give us a moment." The man beside me nodded, opening a portal and stepping through it. It stayed open as Nii-san looked out over the Great Maw. "Promise me you'll be careful." I nodded, bouncing on the soles of my feet. Leon smiled, shoving me on one shoulder. "Shoo." I smiled, hugging him around the middle before running through the portal. Just before it shut behind me, I looked over my shoulder. "And about Yuffie, tell her you were right. She's been my sister since I was born. It's not changing now." He blinked in shock, but I was already out of sight and bak in Twilight Town. Had I stayed behind a moment longer, I would have seen him smile. "That's my girl." ---- Two Days Later ---- I sighed, leaning against the gates of the Mansion. Today was the day, Sora, Donald and Goofy would awaken. But it also meant Riku was leaving. Taking one last look at the sky, I headed back inside. DiZ had been long gone when we got back, leaving nothing but a table destroyed in a fit of rage. All the rooms had been packed, and the computer was still intact. DiZ had left no note, no explanation as to where he was going, but I knew we'd see him again. I headed down into the basement, hands loose at my sides. Riku was sitting at the computer, deleting the last of the files on Roxas. In case DiZ ever came back, he'd have to rely on some other means to get to Axel. Riku looked up at my entrance, and he smiled sadly. "It's time." I nodded, and Riku stood up from the chair. As much as I disliked the idea, he was still going to leave. He didn't want Sora to see him the way he looked now, but he would let me tell Sora that he was still alive and well. We'd been arguing about that for at least four hours before I finally backed down about it. We headed hand in hand down to Sora's pod room, and he stopped in the doorway, opening a portal behind him. "I'll see you around." Not trusting my voice, I just nodded. As his fingers slipped from mine, I had to choke back a sob. Just before he was out of sight, he turned. "I love you Christie. Don't ever forget that." I smiled, I would never forget that. "I love you too Riku, be safe." And with that, he was gone, leaving me alone with just the sleeping Sora to keep my company. At least, for a minute. Two pairs of footsteps made me look up, and a duck literally flying at my stomach made me yelp in shock. Who knew Donald had missed me so much! After a moment of nearly senseless wailing, Donald jumped off of my stomach as Goofy offered a hand to pull me off the ground. We all turned to Sora's pod as it came open, and I smiled. "You finally awake, Sora?" Bright blue eyes cracked open, and he stretched. I snickered as Donald and Goofy laughed openly. It was one thing to see how short his clothes had gotten in the game, it was another thing to see them in the flesh. Sora blinked, then happily jumped from the pod. Goofy and Donald caught him around the shoulders as his legs gave out for a second. "Donald! Goofy!" They all hopped around in a circle for a minute, before Sora tackled into me. LEt me put it this way. Despite bieng skinny, when Sora puts all his wieght into a tackle, nobody except for Vincent is going to be able to hold thier ground. As it was, I had to step back a little to stay standing. I patted Sora's back, gently ruffling his spikes. The color had lightened in the past year, like he'd spent most of it in the sun. He stepped back smiling, looking at his shoulder as Jiminy hopped out from the hood of his jacket, yawning as the cricket stretched. "That was some nap." Sora looked at the cricket as he hoped down onto the ground. "You mean, we were asleep." I nodded, but the cricket didn't notice. "I guess we musta been, or I don't think we'd all be so drowsy. Christie, did you sleep?" I shook my head, and Goofy looked to me. "Then, when did we go to sleep?" Sora tilted his head, and I let him speak up first. "Let's see, we defeated Ansem..." I looked up, wait a second.... Goofy nodded as I lost myself in my thoughts. "Restored peace to the worlds, found Kairi, oh yeah, than we went to look for Riku, the King and you, Christie. Is that right so far." I nodded, and before I could say anything else, Donald spoke up. "Then what?" Goofy looked at Jiminy. "What does your Journal say Jiminy?" The little cricket nodded, hopping up to Sora's short pocket, fishing out the small journal and opening it up. "Let's see...Gee, there's only one sentence. "Thank Naminé". Hmm, I wonder who that could be." The boys exchanged a confused look, and Donald glared at Jiminy. "Some Journal that is." The duck yelped as I twacked him over the head, and Jiminy just smiled as he hopped back onto Sora's shoulder. "Well, what do you say we find out where we are." Sora nodded, and I led the way out of the mansion. Just before we left the basement, Sora stopped. "Hey Christie, where's Riku?" I shrugged, waiting at the top of the stairs. "I can't really say Sora. We lost track of eachother a couple of days ago. He left and hasn't comeback yet." Sora's eyes lit up, and I smothered a wince. I hated lying, but it had to be done. "Then we should wait here for him!" I shook my head. "No. He said not to wait, that he'd find us." Sora sagged, but he nodded. As we left the mansion, Sora stopped again. "So, just how long were we asleep anyway?" I smiled, leading the way through the woods and into town. "Just about a year." All three boys fell on top of each other, and I laughed at the looks on thier faces. Sora recovered first, and he yelled. "A YEAR!?" Wincing as I helped them untangle from one another, I nodded. Sora shook his head, walking into town like a man possesed. His feet led us to the Usual Spot, and as Donald, Goofy and I headed to enter the area, Sora stopped. As he looked at the orange sky, his eyes seemed distant. "You know, I think I've been to this town before." Donald blinked, loooking at the boy. "What's it called." Sora looked at his friend, then shook his head. "Guess I must have imagined it." I smiled sadly, it wasn't his imagination. Even though Roxas was safe and sound with Axel and Naminé back home, some of his memories were with Sora. The boy in question pushed aside the cloth that blocked the way into the Usual Spot, and we followed him through. It was the same as in the Data World, but in this one, there were only three people. Hayner, Pence and Olette were lounging around in various places, and as we entered, Hayner looked up at Sora in anger. "What do you want?!" Sora raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, before scratching the back of his head. "Uh, nothing. Just wondering what was back here." Hayner snarled. "Well, now you know. This is our spot." I raised an eyebrow at his attitude, but said nothing as Pence stood up. "Um..." Sora looked to the boy. "What is it?" "You're...new around here, right? I'm Pence." Hayner hopped off his seat. "Hayner. Nice to meet you, but we've got stuff to do. So, catch ya later." I stepped aside as the blond boy stepped out of the area, still pissed off. Olette spoke up, making me turn. "My name's Olette Hey, did you finish up the summer homework yet? Independent studies are the worsst huh?" Sora looked at her strangely, then turned to us. "Homework?" We all shrugged, then turned back to the two standing in front of us as Pence asked a question. "Hey, what're your names?" Goofy looked ready to smack himself. "Oh, sorry. We're Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy." Sora and I nodded. "Hey there." Olette and Pence shared a look, then turned back to us. "Sora, Christie, Donald, Goofy, we just met someone who was looking for you." Pence put his hands on his head, describing the King's ears. "He sure seemed in a hurry. He had a black cloak on, so I couldn't see his face. But he did had be these big round ears." Donald gasped. "The King!" Sora nodded. "Where'd you see him?" "At the Station. It's at the top of hill, just a little bit north of here." Sora nodded. "The Station, thanks!" We all waved goodbye, before running from the Usual Spot. I led the way up the hill, and as we headed into the Plaza itself, Dusks appeared out of nowhere. I growled, summoning my daggers. Donald and Goofy grabbed thier weapons as well, and I did a quick head count of the number we were facing. Almost two dozen Dusks were swaying around us, that meant we'd each get three. Of course, I knew more were coming. Sora tilted his head, looking at the symbol on the creatures' forehead, confused. He shook his head, summoning the Kingdom Key. We dove into combat, and I realized just how much I'd missed these guys. It was nice, being able to know you had more than one person watching your back. Donald's Thunder Spells were much more accurate than mine, and he cut down many an attacking Dusk that would have wounded us before it could strike. Goofy used his shield like a frisbee, knocking Creeper's out of the air before they could jump on us. And Sora, well, he still fought the same as he did before, only with a lot more grace. He had grown a lot over the last year, and his fighting style had grown with him. But even with all our efforts, there were just too many Dusks appearing. Donald and Goofy fell over first, with Sora and I following soon after. The Dusk's seemed confused for a moment, but shook it off and lunged at Sora. He raised the Kingdom Key in defense, but didn't need it, as a small black blur suddenly appeared from above, cutting through the Dusk's with ease. Sora got onto his knees, blue eyes wide. He yelped as Donald and Goofy pushed him down, the Duck looking amazed. "Your Majesty?!" The King jumped, shushing Donald. "Shh! You gotta board the train and leave town! The Train know's the way." He held out Olette's Munny pouch, and I shook my head. Riku, you arse. How'd you get that to him anyway? Sora took the pouch from the King's hand, examining it. Donal looked to the Market Street arch, taking a few steps in it's direction as the King ran off. We all turned to face were the little King had run off too, and Sora tilted his head. "The King...was that really him?" Goofy nodded. "It coulda been....Yep! I know it was!" Donald smiled, bill turning upwards with his joy. "Now we know he's ok." I crossed my arms over my chest, tapping my foot. "That's all well and good, but we need to get out of town. Those things will be back, the King can't keep them distracted forever." Sora blinked, but nodded. As we walked into the Train Station, he stopped on the stairs, turning on his heel to face the sunset. "Christie...Riku managed to escape from the Realm of Darkness, right?" "Yeah. All three of us did. Why?" Sora turned to me, and I had to hold back a wince at the sheer amount of hope in his eyes. "If you and the King are here, than Riku HAS to be here! Please, can't we stay a while and wait for him? I need to be sure he's ok..." I walked down to Sora's level, putting my hands on his shoulders. He looked up at me. "Sora, we can't stay." The boy pouted. "Why not?" I sighed, looking at Goofy for help. The older male took a step down to be level with Sora and I. "Now Sora, if Christie says that Riku's ok, I'm sure he is. Besides, we all know how he fights. Riku can take care of himself, right?" Sora nodded, still unsure. "Yeah.....but still. I'm going to look for him. Then he, Christie and I can go back to the Islands together, so Kairi doesn't have to wait anymore. What about you two?" I looked at Donald and Goofy, waiting for thier response. Goofy sighed. "Gawrsh Sora, do you really have to ask?" Both Sora and I laughed, the looks on thier faces were just too much. Donald glared. "Hey! What's so funny?!" Still laughed, Sora pointed at his friends. "Your face!" Donald and Goofy looked at eachother, then began to laugh along with us. After a moment, Sora sobered up as he looked to all of us. "What do you say guys? Let's stick together for one more journey." Donald and Goofy nodded, and Sora laced his hands behind his head. "To, where again?" I sighed, but smiled. Goofy mirrored my look. "We hafta board the Train!" Sora nodded. "Oh yeah!" Donald sighed, and Sora ran up the stairs. "C'mon!" We all followed after him into the station, and I turned at Hayner's voice. "Wait up!" Sora turned, hands in his pockets as the Twilight Trio caught up to us. Hayner bit his lip. "Hey, Sora..." "What?" "Nothing, but...." Pence spoke up. "We came to see you off. It just seemed the right thing to do." I smiled, and Sora nodded. "Oh, really? Thanks!" We all turned as the Station Bell rang, signifying the last train of the day would be leaving soon. Olette turned to us. "You'd better hurry and get your tickets." As the boys got our tickets, I headed up onto the boarding plaza. Sure enough, there was Yen Sid's train. But the person standing in front of it, he surprised me. "Seifer?" "How's Squall doing?" I looked at him funny for a moment, before I realized he still remembered Hollow Bastion. "He's getting married soon. He calls himself Leon now though, since he couldn't save home from the Heartless." Seifer rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Sounds like good old Squall to me." He headed down the stairs as Sora and the others came up them. Good old Seifer, leaves without saying goodbye. "Leonhart! Tell him Seifer's ok, got it?!" I sighed, but nodded anyway as I turned to board the train, taking the ticket Sora offered. Donald and Goofy got on board first, and I waited for Sora in the door. Hayner crossed his arms. "Hey, Sora. Are you sure we've never met before?" Sora put one hand on his head, thinking back.. "Positive. Why do you ask?" Hayner shook his head. "I dunno." Sora smiled sadly, and I bit my lip as a single tear traced down his cheek. Three pairs of eyes widened, and Sora gasped. "Huh?" "You ok?" Sora nodded, brushing the tear off his skin. "Y-yeah, don't know where it came from." Hayner chuckled. "Pull it together." Sora nodded. "Right...See ya!" Waving, Sora entered the train. I followed him, taking a seat as the train began to roll down the tracks. Outside, Pence ran down the ledge until he could no longer see the train itself, before he turned to face his friends. "Do you think they'll be ok?" Hayner nodded. "Yeah. I know they'll be ok, somehow." Meanwhile, back on board the train, Sora stood in front of the door. He took the Munny Pouch from his pocket, looking at it as he looked out the door window. "You know..." We all looked at him, and he sat beside me, leaning his head against the seat back. "I'm sad." Donald hopped from the window onto his seat. "We'll be back." Goofy and I nodded. "Yeah! We can visit Hayner and those guys again." I gently ruffled Sora's spikes, smiling at him. "Goofy's right. We'll come back soon." Sora looked at me, and smiled sadly. "Yeah. You're right." Still smiling, Sora drifted off to sleep. Even as the train rolled down the tracks to Yen Sid's tower, he slept on. It was for the best, we'd need all the rest we could get for the days ahead.--- ANd, we're done for now. Hope you liked it, I had to cut it short because A) I was getting frustrated at writing Yen Sid, and B) It was getting too long. Regardless, see you all next time! Silver PS: Word of advice. NEVER try and write a crazy old wizard. You'll drive yourself up the wall just trying to keep him in character. It's even worse when you, the writer, dislike the wizard you're trying to write! (flails)
Kairi: Spelling errors? I ran that thing through three spellchecks, I can't believe I missed them.. Anyway, here's the next chapter! --- WARNING: Blood at End of Day 4 Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ----- Sora, Riku and Christie, floating in Ariel's Grotto as they stared down King Triton. "As the Keybearer, you must already know that one must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds." ---- Ariel spun in the water as the three friends watched. She reached up for a beam of sunlight, eyes full of longing. " So many places I want to see...I know I'll get there someday." ---- Olympus Colleseum, Sora, Donald and Goofy standing in front of Phil and Hercules. "Thus, I hereby dub thee Junior Heroes." Donald sqawked. "Hey! What do you mean Junior Heroes?!" "You Rookies still don't understand what it means to be a true hero." ----- Agrabah, Aladdin's small flat. Sora, Christie, Donald and Goofy are standing nearby the crestfallen young man and his genie. "I....I wish....for your freedom Genie." Genie blinked in shock. "AL!" His tail became legs, and the cuffs on his wrists faded away. ----- Halloween Town, Dr. Finkelstiens lab. Jack took Sally's hand into his own. "Sally, why didn't I listen to you?" "Don't feel bad Jack, we'll come up with another plan for Halloween. And this time, we'll do it together. ---- Hundred Acre Wood, Sora sitting beside Pooh and Piglet. The human stands to leave. "Sora, where are you going?" "I'm gonna go find my friends. They're waiting for me." Every resident of the Hundred Acre Wood stood up, waving at Sora as he left. "Sora, don't forget, you can always come back to see us, if you want to." ---- DiZ Sat at his computer, eyes rimmed red from the hours spent staring at Binary codes. Further below, Naminé stood in front of a capsule inside a White Room. The vision faded to black, and Naminé stood in front of him, back turned. "Who are you?" She turned, and smiled. ---- Roxas awoke slowly, blinking sleep out of his eyes. That girl. She was as familiar as that brown-haired girl from yesterday....Feeling someone's eyes on him, Roxas spun around. But there was no one there...shaking the notion from his brain, Roxas quickly dressed and headed out into the Town. When he arrived at the Usual Spot, he was surprised to see it empty. A flash of white caught his eye and he turned to look at a note left on the couch cushions. Picking up the paper, he smiled at the sight of Hayner's sloppy handwriting. Meet at the station. Today's the day we hit the beach, and don't sweat about those tickets. --Hayner. Roxas smiled again, running from the back alleys into Station Heights. Pence and Olette were walking up to the station, and when they spotted him, they waved. "Morning."As Roxas began to step closer, they stopped with a foot in the air. Time seemed to have stopped for a moment. Roxas began to head down the slope to meet them, but had to skid to a stop before he crashed into the girl from his dream. She smiled gently at him, and for some reason, he felt like he wanted to hug her tightly. She looked so sad. "Hello, Roxas." "Uh, hi..And you are?" She raised a hand, making him quiet down. She laced her fingers. "I wanted to see you again, just once." Roxas blinked. See him again? "Me?" "Yes, you." Roxas was left to try and make sense of her words as she walked away. Time returned to normal, and Olette and Pence continued walking up to Roxas. "Olette dragged along me to go shopping for Beach stuff." The girl lightly thumped the younger boy on the head, before turning to Roxas. "Hey, you want to come with us?" Roxas shook his head, staring down the path that Naminé had headed down "Um, uhh, wait. Did you two just see that...." Pence smiled. "He's stalling." "Very well then. We'll see you at the station later Roxas, ok?" The blond nodded, and his friends headed down into the Market Place. Still standing there a moment later, Roxas tilted his head. "Did she go to that haunted mansion?" Running to the hole in the Tram Common Wall took Roxas a little less than two minutes, but what happened next nearly sent the one babysitting the computer's into a hissy fit. --- "Not again...Riku! We've got a problem!" ----- Roxas stopped short to avoid a dark cloud thing that appeared, spitting out more white creatures. They tugged at his hands, trying to pull him into it. He pulled away. "Lemme go!" Spinning on his heels, Roxas ran headlong out of the forest and back into Tram Common. The white things were still following him, so he altered his course to the Sandlot, were Seifer's gang was practicing for tomorrow's tournament. Seifer smirked as Roxas entered the Sandlot, sides heaving as he tried to catch his breath. "Hey chicken wuss." Roxas turned, yelping as a Dusk sent him sprawling to the ground. Seifer was immediatly in front of him, Struggle club extended to the strange white things. Fuu and Rai dragged Roxas away from thier leader, and the girl spoke up. "Who's that?" Seifer shook his head. "I dunno. But they've already crossed the line. Roxas, find a weapon." The younger blond nodded, grabbing a spare foam sword from the bench. He swung at the white creatures, only to cry out as the weapon went right through them. He was thrown down by one that had gotten past Rai, and he hit the ground with a wince. As he stood back up, he groaned. All four of the group were frozen in time, and the creature's were slowly getting closer. Even though it had been useless, Roxas would have given anything for that struggle club right about now. "Not good..." "Roxas! Use the Keyblade!" That voice! He looked up, to see Naminé's smiling face. But his attention was shifted to something else as a Dusk lunged at him. Roxas crossed his arms in front of his face in some kind of defense, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, not only were the Dusk's gone, but so was the Sandlot. Instead, he stood on a stained glass platform in some kind of dark void. As far as the eye could see, it was black. Roxas shifted slightly as the platform rumbled beneath his feet. Three platforms rose from the glass, one with a red shield, one with a blue staff for casting magic, and the third a green-hilted sword. Choose. What is your path? Roxas looked up, but there was no one there. Taking a deep breath, he walked to the sword. The hilt felt warm in his hand, like if had been made for him. After a moment, it faded away and was replaced by the Keyblade. A flash of white in the corner of his vision made Roxas spin aroud in order to parry a Dusk's strike. The Platform was bieng stormed by the white creatures, at least a half dozen of them. They were gone quickly, and Roxas sighed. Why was it so familiar fighting those creatures? As he swung the Keyblade over his shoulder, a large door appeared on the edge of the platform. Be careful. Beyond that door lies a completely different world. But don't be afraid. Roxas nodded, walking closer to the door. Don't stop walking. Roxas heaved the door open, ending up on another stained glass platform. More Dusks met the business edge of his blade as he headed up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was another door, but this one felt different. Still, he had nowhere left to go...shaking his head, Roxas heaved open this door as well. The next platform was empty, no Dusk's, no stairs, and no more doors. Roxas sighed, walking towards the edge of the platform. Rumbling beneath his feet made him turn, and bright blue eyes widened at the sight of a giant creature, almost as tall as the Station Tower. It was white, with some amount of grey and pale blue. It's long arms and legs tapered out into a windsock shape, and a blue scarf like thing was tied around it's neck. It didn't seem to have eyes, but it stared directly at Roxas, forcing the boy to take a few fearful steps back. Roxas turned around, running away from the creature. But there was nowhere to run, because the platform ended. Roxas turned to face the creature, Keyblade appearing in his hand. He would have to do this on his own. ---- "The Nobodies got in again!" "WHAT?!" ---- Dodging around the creatures attacks proved to be easy enough, and after he swiped at it enough, it slid off the platform. Roxas looked around, where had it gone? He soon got his answer, as the platform tilted beneath him. It turned vertically, sending him falling into the void. In a last effort, he thrust the Keyblade into the glass platform. It stopped his descent, but also nearly yanked his arm out of the shoulder socket. Resisting the urge to look down, Roxas didn't see the huge ball of energy until it's heat melted the glass and forced the Keyblade out of it's place. Roxas screamed as he fell, before something happened. Even though they had never met before, Sora was still a part of Roxas. He knew that something was wrong, and he knew how to defeat a creature like this. Throw it! It'll go through the energy and stop that thing! Roxas didn't have anything left to lose, so he simply followed the voice's advice. Throwing the Keyblade through the energy ball ended the Creature's attack, and righted the platform to become horizonatal again. Both Roxas and the creature fell to the platform, and Roxas had to bite back a scream of pain when he landed on the solid glass. He forced his way up, grabbing the Keyblade from were it had fallen in case the creature got up again. Thankfully, it didn't. What it did was worse though. It turned into Darkness, spreading over the platform and leaving Roxas with nowhere to run as it swallowed him up. Struggling against it did nothing, and as his vision went black, Roxas felt a small hand grab his wrist. When he opened his eyes again, Roxas was lying down on a white floor with a pair of pale blue eyes looking at him. It was the blond girl from before. Roxas sat up, then opened his mouth to speak. But the girl shushed him by placing a fnger on his lips "My name is Naminé. Roxas, do you remember your true name?" Roxas tilted his head, and Naminé sighed. "Christie was right. It doesn't matter now, you should go back to your friends." A dark cloud opened up in the wall nearby, and Roxas yelped. "Why can't you stay out of trouble?" A pair of arms snaked under his shoulders and pulled him into a standing position. That same pair of hands gently shoved him into the portal, and the last think he saw of Naminé was both her and the brown haired girl standing beside a man in a black cloak. Christie! Riku! "Who are you?" I'm Sora, and you're Roxas. ----- "Seifer, strike a pose, y'know?" "How's this?" "That's totally perfect y'know!" Roxas stood, wincing as his back cracked. So it wasn't just a dream... A bright flash of light made his eyes water, and when they cleared he glared at Fuu. "What's that for?!" "Keepsake." "Those freaks in the white jumpsuits are gone y'know?" "Cakewalk." Roxas sighed. "What were those things...." Seifer shook his head with a shrug. "Outsiders, that's what. And if they don't wise up to the rules around here, I might have to take 'disciplinary measures.'" Rai laughed. "Oh yeah! Seifer's always lookin' after the town y'know." When Fuu didn't speak, Roxas followed her gaze, only to meet the disappointed eyes of Hayner. The 19 year old huffed, turning on his heel and running into the back alleys. "Hayner! Wait up!" Roxas ran off after his friends. "Chicken Wuss! No chickening out of the tournament tomorrow!" Ignoring Seifer was easy, and he reached the usual spot within a moment. Pence looked up as Roxas entered the room. "So...you hung out with Seifer's gang today?" Roxas shook his head." "No, it's not like that...Oh yeah! How was the beach? Wasn't that today?" Olette sighed. "We didn't go. It wouldn't be the same without you there." Roxas sighed, looking at the ground. He knew they were mad at him, so it was better to apologize and leave them to cool off. "Sorry." Roxas turned around, heading out of the Usual Spot. Three gasps made his look over his shoulder, back at his friends. . "What's wrong?" Hayner stood, placing one hand on Roxas' jacket back. When he removed his hand, the palm had spattering's of red on it. Blood. "You're hurt." Roxas blinked, shrugging out of his jacket. Sure enough, there was blood on it. Hayner growled. "Seifer did this? I'll kill him!" Roxas shook his head. It would be better not to tell them the truth. They'd call him nuts... "I just fell on my way to the station. Rai noticed and gave me a hand. That's why I was at the sandlot." Hayner's jaw dropped, and he kicked the wall. "Darnit!" Roxas shook his head, slipping his jacket back on. He'd wash it back home, he needed to solve this problem now. "What's wrong?" Hayner turned on him, snarling. "What's wrong? What's wrong is that you were in trouble and we weren't there! We should have been." Roxas sighed. "It's ok. I should have been more careful. Besides, it doesn't hurt anymore. I'll just go home and take a shower. See you guys tomorrow." His friends watched him leave with heavy heads, and Hayner sat against the wall. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. They were losing him... ---- Restoration at 98 Percent ----- DiZ sat at the computer desk, Riku and I standing behind him. Riku stared at the computer screens. "Was that Naminé made of data." DiZ shook his head. "No. Naminé hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now...She's totally beyond my control!" He slammed a fist onto the desk, causing data on some of the screens to jump. Riku made a placating gesture with his hands. "Calm down." DiZ sighed. "It doesn't matter. As long as Naminé accomplishes her goal, we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas." I shared a look with Riku. Roxas' wellbieng was the real meaning of Naminé's actions. She didn't want to lose him anymore than she wanted to lose Axel. I just hope we can do this the right way.. ---- Sora reached for a younger Kairi, trying to grab her hand. He failed. ---- "It's up to me. Only the keyblade master can open the secret door, and change the world." ---- "I can't betray you Riku, but I won't betray Sora either. He's family." Christie stared at Riku. Riku disappeared, and Beast came up behind Sora and Christie. "So, your heart's won this battle." ---- Xehanort stared at Sora, throwing a black and red keyblade to Sora. "Release your heart, and Kairi will awaken." Sora stabbed himself in the Heart, releasing Kairi's heart. "SORA!" --- "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." "No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again." --- "Take this. It's my lucky charm, so be sure to bring it back to me. " "Don't worry, I will." "I will." "Promise?" "Promise." Kairi smiled at Sora. "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you." ----- I sighed, shaking my ponytail off my face. With his newer form, Riku was more difficult to attack. With bieng bigger came more wieght to avoid. His strikes were more difficult to parry, and I'd lost my daggers soon after our spar began. He chuckled as he leaned over me, offering a hand. I smiled, letting him pull me up. Once I stood, I dusted myself off and recalled my daggers. As we headed back into the mansion, a shrill scream made us both jump. I knew that voice. "Naminé!" I raced up the stairs, with Riku on my heels. DiZ was coming out of Naminé's room, looking quite pleased with himself. I ducked around him, pounding on Naminé's door as Riku chewed DiZ out. "What did you do?!" DiZ smirked. "I only reminded her of her place." The crimson clad man headed downstairs, and Riku snarled. All my pounded finally got Naminé to open her door, and she let both Riku and I inside. She was still sniffling as she sat against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest. Riku stayed close to the door as I kneeled down next to the scared blond. "Did he touch you?" She shook her head violently, and both Riku and I sighed in relief. I suppose I'd known it all along. No matter how violent he got, DiZ would never rape someone. Naminé looked up at us, voice hoarse. "He, he threatened to kill Axel and Roxas if I hijack the data again." Riku punched the wall next to him, and I snarled. Naminé buried her head in her knees, and I looked to Riku. "Go find Axel. We need to get them out of here, now." He nodded, portalling out as I began to pack Naminé's things into her bag. It only took a few minutes to pack, and I was replacing the colored pencils and paints back into thier boxes, the portal on the wall opened up, letting Riku and Axel out into the White Room. Naminé looked up as Axel kneeled next to her, before leaping at his neck, crying her eyes out. He looked at me as I handed her bags to him, the look in his green eyes telling me that Riku had explained to him what DiZ had done. "I'll be back for Roxas in three hours. Be ready to move." I nodded as he carried Nami away from here, leaving Riku and I in the now empty white room. ----- Roxas winced as he pulled his jacket on. There had been small cuts all over his back, staining his clothes and skin. Even though they hadn't been deep, they had really stung when he cleaned them. One of his neighbors, Zidane Tribal, had helped him bandage them up. The 23 year old man was Vivi's older brother, and was attending the tournament today to root for his kid brother. As Roxas tugged on his shoes, he smelled something like chili peppers and paper. Naminé had smelled like paper just yesterday, but the chili peppers.... Roxas shook his head, he had a tournament to get to! Roxas ran from the Back Alleys to the Sandlot, making it in time to listen to the Struggle producer's speach as he set the fireworks off. "Ladie's and gentlemen, Struggle-fiends of Twilight Town! It's time for summer's most sizzling clash! That's right! Today is the day for the Struggle and the Title Match! Who will be the one to break through the ranks and take on our champion, Setzer?!" Rai yelled from across the platform. "Seifer, y'know!?" "And who will leave today as our new Struggle Champion!?" Olette and Pence spoke up above the roar of the Setzer Fangirls. "Hayner! Roxas!" The Producer smiled. "Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes nect. Lets....STRUGGLE!!" More fireworks were set off as as Producer got off the stage, and the Announcer took his place on the Podium. "Hey now. It's time to introduce today's combatants! The four bad boys who struggled thier way through the Preliminaries! Regular finalist and head of the Twilight Disciplinary Committee: Seifer!" Seifer waved to the crowd, while Rai and Fuu cheered him on. "Completely out of nowhere, who knew he'd make it so far this year? Vivi!" The young boy shrunk down a little more, as Zidane and Dagger, Zidane's girlfriend, cheered him on. Roxas smiled. He was a good kid, but it was a bit of a surprise that he'd made it this far. "An underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! It's his first trip to the finals!" Roxas smiled again, sharing a look with his friends. Local attitude problem indeed. "And Struggler number 4, who happen's to be my favorite customer, Roxas!" Roxas looked over at Hayner, but the older boy wouldn't meet his gaze. Roxas turned away, looking towards the Struggle platform. "So--who will win this sweltering summer Struggle!? Who will take home the grand prize? The summa *** laude of Struggle, The Four Crystal Trophy! And, a chance to take on our defending Champion, Setzer!" The older man held up the Champion's belt, silver hair draped over his shoulders and cape. He looks like Riku did.... "Sora?" Yep. "It won't be long now folks. I suggest our challengers go over the Official Struggle Rules before we begin." Roxas decided to sit out the refresher course of the rules, trying to calm a raging heart. He was scared, the white creatures, yesterdays "dream", Sora, everything was out of control. The Producer called Roxas up onto the platform, handing both him and Hayner the foam swords used in battle, patting them on the shoulders and walking away. Hayner still refused to meet Roxas' eyes, and it was only a minute until the match would begin that he spoke up. "Sorry...about yesterday." Roxas blinked. Now it made sense. Hayner was feeling guilty. Roxas shook his head, he should have been the one feeling guilt now, not his best friend. "Why? You didn't make me trip and fall, did you?" Hayner's jawdropping expression made Roxas smile, and Hayner sighed with a smirk. The mood had been lightened, and they were back to normal. Both Hayner and Roxas got into combat position, and the Announcer began the match. "Our first match of today's Struggle Tournament will be between Roxas and his best friend Hayner!" Hayner smirked, lunging at his friend. Roxas slipped away, twisting to the right to avoid Hayner's follow-up strike, smacking his friend on the back. Hayner snarled, swinging violently at Roxas. Roxas avoided every violent strike, stealing some of Hayner's orbs with a thrust of his club. After that, Hayner was never able to land a hit, and the match ended quickly. "And the Winner is Roxas!" The Announcer raised his arm into the air, and Roxas waved to the crowd. Hayner smiled, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Roxas was really just the same as before, maybe they weren't losing him at all. "Not even friendship will slow this kid down! And Hayner put up a great fight too." After his arm was released, Roxas ran to Hayner's side. "I lost! I can't believe this." Hayner stood up straight, smirking. Roxas copied that grin. "I had a lot of fun fighting you." Hayner's smirk changed into a gentle smile, before he blinked, crossing his arms. "Yeah, well I didn't, wise guy." Roxas laughed, wrapping an arm around Hayner's shoulder. "Hey, let's find a way to cheer you up." Hayner slipped out of Roxas' hold, friendly punching his hand. "Nah, that's ok." As they headed off the platform, Seifer nearly crashed into Hayner. The older man snarled, he was in a right foul mood. "Out of the way." Hayner grinned. "You in a rush to lose?" Roxas shook his head, only to jump near a foot in the air at the sudden appearance of Vivi right next to him. Vivi looked up at Roxas, amber eyes cold and distant. This wasn't the same boy that had blushed at the call of his name earlier... Roxas shook the thought from his mind, following Hayner to the bench were Olette and Pence were waiting. As they sat down, Vivi and Seifer were staring at eachother. The elder of the pair was literally foaming at the mouth. "Don't mess with your elders." Roxas winced. He really was mad....this might be a bad thing. "Whew, just look at those sparks fly! I guess Seifer didn't expect to be fighting one of his own boys!" The first half of the match was semi-regular. Blows were exchanged, with niether side backing down onto the defensive. After the thirty seconds bell had passed, Vivi literally flew at Seifer, causing the elder male to jump away with Vivi following like a wild cat after a mouse. Hayner blinked in surprise. "When did Vivi get so tough?" At Roxas' shrug, both boys returned thier attention to the match. Seifer was blocking Vivi's strikes, then in a single move, knocked the younger boy to the ground. With Vivi's flight, one of his orbs came loose. Seifer lunged for it, only to get sent across and out of the arena by a single move from Vivi. Rai and Fuu scrambled to Seifer's side, and even Setzer was there to help them get the boy back on his feet. Seifer was relatively unharmed, with only a massive bruise on his head to show for losing the fight. The Announcer, seeing that Seifer was unharmed, snapped back to attention. "I'm not sure what just happened here, but the winner is Vivi! In a positively blistering comeback!" Seifer's voice made Roxas look up, seeing the twenty-year old between Rai and Fuu. "That's not Vivi. Thrash him." Roxas stared after him as Seifer headed into the back alleys. The Struggle Producer came up to Hayner. "It looks like Seifer's withdrawn from the Struggle for third place." Hayner's jaw dropped. "So I'm in third now? Aw baby!!" Roxas smiled at his friends antics, then winced. Since Seifer had lost, he was going up against Vivi now. Hayner's jumping around snapped him back to from his thoughts. Vivi was already on stage, and the Producer was waving Roxas to get alongside him. Roxas nodded, hopping up onto the platform. The Producer handed them both Struggle clubs. "Keep it clean fellas." Roxas nodded as he stared down at Vivi, barely noticing the announcer speak up. "And now, the match you've been waiting for: Roxas vs Vivi!" And with that, the match started. Vivi's jumped made him a difficult target to keep track of, and Roxas was sent on the defenseive when Vivi jumped at him. Still, with all his jumping around, Vivi lost orbs. Roxas snatched them up, and when Vivi stopped to catch his breath, Roxas made his move to release the final orbs. But he never did, becuase the second he got close, time stopped again. Roxas stepped back as white and black thorns curled around Vivi, turning him into one of those white creatures. Roxas groaned, backing into a corner when more of the white creatures appeared. "Again?!" The Struggle club in his hands turned into the Keyblade once more. "Again....." Roxas shook his head, diving at the creatures. They feel to his balde easily, and once they were gone, Roxas fell over onto his rear end, breathing heavily. This was too much, his back was really hurting him now. Roxas looked up at the sound of clapping. "Roxas. You ok?" A man in a black cloak stood nearby. His hood was down, letting Roxas see flame colored hair and bright green eyes, said eyes worried and hesitant. That voice....and the scent of chili peppers.... ----- "Name's Axel, got it memorized?" Blue eyes blinked in confusion. "I'm.....Roxas. Nice to meet you." Axel smirked, throwing an arm around Roxas' shoulders. "You and me, we're gonna be great friends." ---- "So, you're going with Naminé and Zexion?" Axel nodded, leaning back against the wall. "Yeah. The Superior wants someone he can "trust" on the inside, incase Marluxia tries another coup." "Just, be careful, ok? I don't want to lose either of my friends." ---- Midnight, World that Never Was. Roxas stood in the castle entrance with Demyx, waiting for Axel, Naminé and Zexion. A portal opened up, and when only a flame-colored head appeared, Demyx sighed. "He's gone, isn't he?" At Axel's tired nod, Demyx extended a hand. Axel placed a small, blue covered book into his hand. Number IX nodded his thanks, heading back into the castle. Roxas and Axel stood in the rain, watching him go. After a moment, Roxas turned back to his friend. "Are..." "Naminé's fine. I'm just exhausted." Roxas nodded, then tackled his friend in a gigantic hug. He had never been more grateful for the rain then he had been then, as it hid his tears of relief. They were still alive, they were ok. ----- Axel extended a hand to Roxas, pulling him from the ground and dusting him off. "Man, you're outta shape." "Well, what do you expect? It's been more than a week since you saw me last!" Axel laughed, ruffling his friends hair. The sound of a portal made both males turn, and Axel smiled at the sight of Christie. "Squirt! You were right after all!" The girl screwed up her face in disbeleif, but her eyes were light with happiness. "Of course I was! I told you that you'd get Roxas back, I told you!" Roxas laughed, that sounded like Axel alright. All three people jumped to attention as a second portal opened up, this time a second man in a black cloak stepped through, looking haggard and breathing heavily. He shook his head, and Christie cursed. "Dammit!" She turned to Axel. "Axel! DiZ found us, we've got to go, now!" Axel cursed, taking Roxas' hand. They hadn't even made one step off the platform when numbers flashed all around them. A cylinder of zeroes and one appeared on the other end of the platform, and a very angry DiZ stepped through. "Roxas! You won't be leaving here!" The blond snarled. "Like hell I won't! I remember what Axel told me about you, you're trying to kill us all! I won't let you hurt either him or Naminé!" ---- We all looked at Roxas, shellshocked. Axel had told Roxas about that, but he shouldn't have known about that until all his memories returned once he left. I smiled in relief. Roxas had remembered it all, in the moment of truth. Axel hugged his friend tightly as DiZ, RIku and I watched on. After a moment, the red-head took Roxas' hand again. As he began to lead Roxas off the platform, Riku opened up a portal to the outside world. Roxas smiled, Naminé was waiting just inside the portal. The blonds took off running into eachothers arms, with Roxas twirling the girl around like a dancer. She laughed, extending her hand to Axel. The flame-haired man moved to take her hand, but a loud crack made us all wince and close our eyes. What happened next could have taken centuries or seconds, I couldn't tell the difference. Axel blinked, one hand where he his heart should have been. The black gloves came up soaked in blood, and he smirked. "Damn." Axel fell forward in slow motion, only to stop when Roxas quickly managed to catch him. The bleeding hole in his chest had come from behind, so as Naminé and I raced to Axel's side, Riku was furiously looking at DiZ. Moreso, the smoking gun in his hand. "Why did you do that?!" "Simple. As nobodies, they have no right to exist. I was simply putting him out of his misery." I snarled at the crimson-clad man, but stayed on my task. I could only slow the bleeding for a few minutes, he needed a Healer and now. I turned to Roxas, taking his hands in my own and placing them onto the hole in Axel's body. "Keep pressure there." I turned to Riku. "We need a Portal to Hollow Bastion, now!" He nodded, changing the trajectory of the still open corridor. I stood, helping Axel to his feet. Thank Bahamut for this guys' pain tolerance. Naminé stayed close as possilble, leading the way as I followed close behind. We were almost out on the other side of the portal when Axel collapsed a second time. The only difference was, this time... He didn't get up. --- Yes, I know I will catch grief about Axel, but it's well worth it. I needed a reason to get Roxas out of Twilight Town early, and I got it. As for if he'll survive, well, you'll have to wait a while longer. You'll know next chapter, when the action really gets started. Till then Silver
And once again, I'm back. Enjoy! --- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- Sora, sitting againt the wall of Traverse Town's back wall. A yellow dog is sniffing his face, before licking his cheek. Bright blue eyes blinked open, and the boy groaned. "Where, am I?" He raced into the second district, bumping into his friends. "Riku, Christie, Kai--- ----- All four teens stood in the First District of Traverse Town, facing down Leon. "Who are you?" "They'll keep coming at you from nowhere, as long as you continue to wield the keyblade." ---- "Just who do you think you are anyway, jumping us from nowhere like that?!" "I'm trying to protect you, you brat, since you obviously need a girl to save your ass!" "ENOUGH!" ---- Donald, Goofy, Sora and Christie stand in the Third District. "Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our ship" Leon nodded. "Sora, Christie, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends." "Donald Duck." "Name's Goofy." "I'm Sora." "Christie." All four put thier hands into one place, and smiled. ----- "But the boy is a problem. He's found one of the keyholes. And that girl, she will become a nuisance if we don't nip her bud now." "Let him search for the rest. The girl won't be a nuisance for much longer. Sooner or later, she will crumble. And when she does, we attack." ----- Roxas shot upwards, looking at his right hand. "A key...blade?" Roxas shook the cobwebs from his brain, dressing quickly and walking out the front door. He walked through the sleepy town, thoughts running around like a dog chasing it's tail. He stopped near the Usual Spot. "A keyblade..." His gaze fell to a small twig leaning against the wall, and Roxas smirked. That would do. After picking it up, he swung it around like Sora had swung the Keyblade in the dreams. A moment later, Roxas shook his head. "What was that about?" He tossed the stick over his head, turning on his heel when instead of a click on bricks and cobblestone, he heard a light thump of cloth, flesh and wood. The twig had hit a tall person wearing a black cloak, bouncing off that person's torso and landing near their feet. Roxas gasped, but the person was already walking away, heading for the Sandlot. "Sorry....about that...." Roxas shook his head, heading into the Usual Spot to see his friends munching away on Sea-Salt Ice Cream. As he took his seat, a still wrapped popsicle was shoved in his vision. Smiling at Olette, he took it from her hand, nodding his thanks. After a moment, Pence spoke up. "Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?" Olette tilted her head, leaning back. "I sure hope so." Hayner screwed up his face, looking at Pence strangely. "Huh? Where'd that come from? You feeling alright?" Pence shook his head, returning to his Ice Cream. "Oh, well, you know. Just thinking out loud." Hayner smiled, leaning back to look up at the orange sky. "Well, I doubt we can be together forever. But isn't that what growing's up all about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, it's how often we think about each other. Right?" Pence laughed, even as he nodded. "Get that off a fortune cookie?" Hayner pouted. "That's it, no more Ice Cream for you!" As Pence looked at his Ice Cream strangely, Hayner groaned. "Man, today's really turning out to be a drag..." Olette nodded, tossing out her finished Ice Cream. "Maybe because of yesterdays Memory Thief." Hayner shook his head, leaping from his seat. "Nuh-uh. You know what it is? We don't want summer vacation to be over. That's all! So, how about this. We all go to the beach! And why do we go to the beach? Becuase we haven't gone once this entire vacation! Blue sea's, blue skies! Let's just get on the train and go!" The others looked at each other as they stood, and Hayner looked over his friends. "No? Aw, c'mon!" Roxas bit his lower lip, shaking his head. "Maybe you forgot Hayner, but we're almost broke. We can't afford Beach Tickets." Hayner smirked, punching one open palm with his fist. "Maybe you forgot, I'm smart!" Roxas stared after his friends as they ran out of the Usual Spot, before running out after them. Nearly crashing into Olette as he entered Market Street, he skidded to a stop next to Hayner. The older boy was reading a Struggle poster. "Just two more days to go. You and I have to make the finals. That way, no matter who wins, the four of us can split the prize." Roxas nodded, smiling. "Ok, you're on." Pence peeked at them from around Olette's back. "You two are gonna clean up!" "Go get 'em!" Hayner smiled, placing his forearm against Roxas' with clenched fists. "It's a promise!" ---- "That was...Sora's promise gesture...." "Yes. Roxas and Sora are beginning to connect. We're running out of time to do this right." ".....I can see why Axel is so determined not to lose him...." ---- Now completly sobered about the Struggle, Hayner put his hands on his hips. "Now, let's get down to business. One ticket to the beach is 900 Munny. That's 3600 for all four of us, with three hundred Munny to spend, which is 1200 Munny. It comes to a total of 4800 Munny." Pence titled his head as Olette smiled proudly at Hayner. Those math tutor lessons before he headed to Besaid had really helped out after all. "To spend on what though?" Hayner smirked, grabbing his wallet from his pocket. "Pretzals of course! What else is there?" Roxas shrugged, lacing his hands behind his head and crossing one foot over the other "Well, there's always watermelon." Hayner shook his head, flipping though his Munny bills. "Too pricey. They're 2000 Munny apiece." Roxas nodded. "Alright, pretzels it is." "So, where we Olette?" The girl crossed her arms. "We need 4800 Munny altogether. But all we have is...." "400 over here." Hayner returned his wallet to his pocket. "800 from me." Pence. "....650" Olette. "150. Sorry." Roxas winced, but Hayner only smiled. "That's 2000 Munny! We need another 2800 Munny. Let's find ourselves some odd jobs and get some cash!" We have until the train leaves to earn 700 Munny each!" Hayner ran off towards the station, waving over his shoulder. "Meet at the station with cash in hand!" Pence shook his head. "Didn't he say he had it covered?" Roxas rolled his eyes as Olette groaned. "Whatever. Those pretzels are sounding pretty good right about now." Leaving Pence and Olette to thier jobs, he headed for Tram Common. Sure enough, in less than two hours, he had the required 700 Munny and had been very well praised by the Struggle Announcer. "Amazing Roxas! I've not seen a job this good since, well, I haven't see a job this good in years! Here's your Munny, as promised." Roxas nodded his thanks, running off towards the Station Plaza. Hayner smiled at his friends. "All present and accounted for? What've we got now?" "Let's see here. Just this." Hayner beamed, brown eyes aglow. "Good job." Olette took the Munny from the group, counted it up, and placed it into a small orange pouch. "Nice work everyone! Added to what we started with, we now have....Tada! 5000 Munny!" Pence whooped. "Sweet! We can ticket's now." Olette and Pence ran off into the station, leaving Hayner and Roxas to stare after them. "We can't be together forever....so we'd better make the time we do have together something to remember." Roxas blinked, staring at his friend. "What? Hayner, are you sick or something?" The brown-eyed boy shook his head with a smile as he walked to the station. "Not sick. Just grateful to be back home." Roxas stared after his friend with a smile, before walking after him. But before he could join the others in the station, Roxas fell to the ground. Olette's hands flew to her mouth as Pence gasped. Hayner headed back down the stairs to help Roxas up, only to stop with one foot in midair as the area around them twisted. Everything stopped, except Roxas. He pushed himself off the ground, wiping blood off his lip as he sat abck on his haunches. He blinked at the position Hayner was in, and spun around to face the entrance to the old tunnels. The metal gate was creaking open slowly, and a girl stepped through. Her black shorts were damp, and she seemed to be rather mad at something. She was saying something in a langauge that Roxas didn't know, but from the look on her face said Roxas would rather not know. After the gate slammed shut behind her, the girl sighed. "I'm getting to old for this." She looked around for a moment, brown ponytail smacking her shoulders. When she caught sight of Roxas, she bit her lip. A person in a black cloak appeared behind her suddenly, and Roxas yelped. That was the person from this morning! "Do you want me to..." The girl nodded, fading away. The man faded, and time was restored. But before Roxas could stand, the man had yanked him to his feet. He whispered something to Roxas, and disappeared. "What?" "Roxas! You ok?!" He nodded to Hayner, before looking back to where the man had once stood. There was nothiing there. As he entered the station, Roxas couldn't shake the feeling that he'd known that man, and the girl, from somewhere. He came up behind Hayner as the other boy leaned down onto the ticket counter. "Four students!" Hayner held one hand out behind his back, palm up." Roxas nodded, searching through his pockets and coming up with the Munny Pouch. He placed it in Hayner's hand, only for the older boy to jump back. "What?! What do you mean the last train left an hour ago?!" Olette groaned as Pence and Roxas sagged. They'd gotten the Munny they needed, but they were too late. Hayner sighed, looking as the final train of the day headed for Sunset Hill. "I can't believe this..." All four left the station with heavy hearts. They split up to head home, and Roxas shook his head, juggling the Munny Pouch as he returned to his room. "Can you feel Sora?" As he pulled his pajama shirt over his head, he wondered who that girl had been. She looked so familiar, had he met her before? No, he'd never seen her before, he was sure of it. He set the full Munny Pouch onto his desk, then hopped into bed and pulled the blanket over his head. After he was asleep, time distorted and the girl appeared in his room. She looked from the sleeping Roxas to the darkening sky outside the window, then grabbed the Munny Pouch off the desk. "I'm sorry." She was gone before Roxas had even begun to dream. --- Restoration at 56% "Naminé, hurry." --- I sighed, leaning back against the wall as Riku juggled the Munny Pouch up and down. DiZ sat at the computer, inputting Binary codes for tomorrow's session. Riku spoke up. "Is it really that hard to make a beach?" The Crimson Clad man shook his head as he stood. "No. It's quite simple actually, but we'd be giving the enemy another entry point." Riku shook his head as he held the Munny Pouch up. "And this?" "We can always buy some Sea-Salt Ice Cream." DiZ laughed, and Riku began to juggle the pouch up and down again. After a moment, DiZ spoke again as he headed upstairs. "Object's from that town must me kept out of the real world. You can delete that." Both Riku and I stared after DiZ, and only after I heard his room door close, did I sit down at the computer to alter the Binary codes to allow Naminé and Axel into the data stream come the next two days. Riku stood behind me, fiddling with the design on the pouch in his hand. "Is DiZ really trying to erase Roxas? " I nodded, and Riku sagged. Even though they were said not to have Hearts, we both knew that Roxas, Axel and Naminé had souls and emotions. They could feel fear, happiness, love, anger, and all the other emotions that we could. DiZ was just too caught up in revenge to see them for who they really were. They weren't just parts of Sora and Kairi, they were their own persons. Riku had experienced this first hand, when Naminé had literally pouted him into doing her shopping. Riku put his hand on my shoulder as I finished my work, shutting down the computer. "So, what's the plan?" I smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask..." ------ And we're done. I hope you enjoyed reading it, as I had fun writing it. Hayner's quick math came from my own life, since he's in college, it's expected that he should know his math, neh? See you next time people! Silver
Hey everyone, I'm back once more. Just a warning, I'm changing the ages of the characters around a bit, and this chapter is very wordy. Enjoy, if you can. Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- Ocean waves, harsh moonlight. He could have laughed at it all. This was a dead world, and he was meeting a person who was supposedly dead. What irony. Speak if the devil....Roxas portaled into view, and Xemnas turned to face the youngest member of the Organization. "You have arrived. I've been to see him, he looks a lot like you." Roxas tilted his head. "Who are you?" "I'm all that's left. Or, maybe I'm all there ever was to begin with." Roxas pouted, they'd have to work on his emotions. "I meant your name." "My name is of no importance. But what about you? Do you remember your true name?" "My true name is..... --- "Sora!" Sora shot up from the ground, scattering sand as he turned on his knees to face the girl who woke him. She giggled, hands on her knees. "Give me a break Kai--" ----- Two boys, racing down the beach. One is silver haired, Riku. The other is Sora. Riku's voice rings out across the beach. "Giving up already?" Four teens now sit on a horizontal palm tree. Sora, the red-headed girl from before, and Christie. Riku stands below them, arms crossed over his torso as they look out across the ocean. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we land on this one?" ----- The secret place, a small cave nestled withinthe roots of a great tree. The rocks that make the walls are covered in chalk drawings, and Sora places his hand onto one, cerulean eyes gazing at it with longing. "This world, has been connected." Sora shot up, looking around the tiny area. "Wh-who's there?" "Tied to the darkness." ----- Sora and and the red-haired girl sit on the docks, watching the sunset. The girl stands after a moment, then looks back down at Sora. "Sora, don't ever change." Sora nodded, and the scene changed again. All four teens from before now stood in the Secret Place, facing down a man in a brown cloak. "The door has opened. There will be nothing you can do to stop it now." ---- Roxas' room, with clothes and papers all over the floor. His fish lamp is on, sending bright blue light across the wall. Roxas blinked awake, sitting up on his bed. "Another dream about him." Outside the window, the early morning train was heading into town. Roxas started, kneeling to open his window. Twilight Town was just the same as it had always been, always peacefully set into twilight. It's where the town had gotten it's name. "Roxas! You awake in there?!" Roxas looked down to the street below his small flat, smiling brightly as he saw his best friends waving to him. Hayner was the oldest out of all of them, at almost 19. He was here on summer break from College on Besaid Island to the west, and he really hadn't changed since Roxas had seen him last. He still had his dishwater blond hair spiked and prepetually rumpled, and his brown eyes were full of laughter as he waved to Roxas. In the three years they'd known each other, Hayner had become a brother to Roxas, annoying as he was. "Don't you dare fall from your window again!" That was Olette. The 18 year old girl was studying here at Twilight Univeristy, so Roxas saw her everyday. Her mannerism's hadn't changed since High School, and becuase of that, she often served as both the voice of reason and mother hen whenever her boys were in trouble. Her brown hair was getting mussed up from the strong breeze, and as she held her hands to her mouth to yell at Roxas again, he saw her bright green eyes full of happiness. It had been a hard few months since they'd all been together like this, so of course she'd be happy. "You gonna stand there daydreaming all day? Come on Roxas!" And that would be Pence. He the youngest of them all, coming in at 16. He'd skipped two grades, so he was heading back to Besaid with Hayner when then week was up. He was pudgier than the others, but both he and Roxas chocked it up to all the Ice Cream they ate over the years. His black hair was held up in a fountain style by the red hairband he wore, and his brown eyes were showing a little impatience as he waved up at Roxas. The 17 year old smiled, calling out to his friends. "I'll be right down!" Roxas ducked away from his window, shutting the glass panes with gentle hands before diving off the bed to find his clothes. After a few moments of reckless searching, he blinked in surprise. Had he really left them on his chair all night? Dusting his knees off, he quickly got dressed, pulling on his jacket as he thundered down the staircase out of the flat. His friends met him at the front gate, and Hayner laughed as he rumpled his hair. "Always a bed-head huh?" Roxas swatted at Hayner's hand with a laugh. "Look who's talking!" Olette and Pence laughed, stopping abruptly as someone stared at them with anger in there eyes. Roxas blinked in shock, but Hayner just grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the back alleys. The Usual Spot was their secret hideaway, and now it served as a sounding room for job offers and lifestyles. At the moment, it was serving to let Hayner vent out his anger without hurting anyone. "Man, doesn't that tick you off?" Pence nodded. "Yeah, that's just wrong." Ollete stood, beginning to pace. "Seifer's gone to far this time." All three of them looked over at Roxas, and the blonde blinked, before nodding. Hayner jumped from his seat, pacing back and forth in front of his friends. "I mean, it's true that stuff's gone missing around town, and we do have a score to settle with Seifer and all from before College, so if he wants to think we did it, I really can't blame him. But see, that's not what's bugging me. What really bugs me is that he's goin' around telling everybody we're the thieves. Now the whole town and thier mothers are treating us like a Kelpto club! Pence and I only been here 2 months, and stuff's been missing for three. False accusations are what really tick me off. Have any of you ever been this mad before in your life?" At everyone's head shaking, Hayner continued his tirade. "Becuase I haven't. Nuh-uh, never. Now, what are we going to do about this..." Ollete turned to Roxas, gesturing at Hayner with her head. Roxas sighed, why was he was the only one sane around here? "Uh, well....We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight, right?" Pence nodded, jumping from his seat. "Hey, that sounds fun!" Hayner snarled, crossing his arms. "And what about Seifer? He's pretty much turned the whole town against us if you haven't noticed." Roxas stood, tapping his foot. "First, we gotta clear our names. Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs." Hayner growled, but was cut off from responding as Pence shouted. "On no! They're gone!" They all turned to face the young man, to see what the problem was. His camera was in his hand, and Pence was looking mighty distressed. "Our ----- are gone!" Pence put his hand to his throat, blinking in shock. "What?" Hayner took a step forward. "All our ----- gone? Huh?" Ollete leapt from her seat, trying to speak. "Huh? You can't say -----? Why not?" Pence shook his head. "But you do get what I'm saying, right? All our ----- are gone!" Roxas narrowed his eyes in thought. "Stolen...And not just the -----. But the word -----! They stole that too." Hayner looked up to the sky. "What kinda thief is that? Siefer could never have pulled that off." Roxas nodded. "Yeah." Hayner punched his palm with one fist, running out the cloth that made for a door. "Alright, time for some recon!" Olette and Pence followed after him, determined to keep the eldest boy out of trouble. Roxas made to follow them out, but his world began to sway beneath him. "Huh?" Roxas hit the ground with a thump, vision going black. --- "His heart is returning. Doubtless Sora will awaken very soon." ---- Roxas blinked away the spots in his vision as he stood, dusting his legs off. Foot steps made him look up, bright blue eyes meeting Olette's green. "Roxas, come on." Roxas nodded, running after the girl onto Tram Common. Hayner waved them over. "Over here!" The group stood in front of the armor shop, and Pence clutched his camera to his chest. "Let's get this investigation underway." Roxas walked up to the shopkeeper, only to have to step back suddenly as the man at the counter glared at him. "Yo, Roxas. Never thought you'd ever do such a thing." Roxas sagged. "We didn't steal anything, all right?" The shopkeeper sighed, lowering his glare. "I'd like to believe you, but who else would steal that stuff?" Roxas pounced. "What stuff?" The shopkeeper shook his head. "As if you didn't know. Hey, I'm not gonna tell you. Go ask Lin at the Accessory Shop. She's mighty disappointed in you." Roxas raised a hand to ask again, only to have the store window shut in his face. The blond shook his head, turning on his heel and walking to the Accessory Shop. The blonde-haired girl who owned it looked up as he rapped on the doorframe, frowning. "Oh, it's you Roxas. Please don't let me down, you used to be one of my favorite customers." Roxas crossed his arms, this was already getting old. "Lin, you know I'm not a thief. Neither are Hayner, Pence or Olette." Lin sighed, not really believing the boy. "Okay, if you say so." Roxas looked away. "It's no fun having everyone suspecting me and my friends, you know." "Then you've got to find a way to clear your names. Mikoto at the Candy Shop is pretty disappointed too." Roxas nodded, dragging away a questioning Hayner. Just one more shop, maybe the old owner could give them a hint. Mikoto, an old brown-haired lady looked up as Roxas and his friends came into view. Her normally prim bun was a mess, covered in dust. She dusted off her hands as they came closer. "Roxas? Have any of you seen my cat around?" Olette looked up towards the shop awning suddenly, before putting her hands on her mouth. "There he is! Roxas, can you get him down?" Roxas was already on the awning by the time she'd asked, stretching to reach the purring cat. The teen hopped from the awning, handing the cat to its smiling owner. "Thank you Roxas." Roxas nodded, crossing his fingers behind his back. "Did they steal something from you too?" Mikoto nodded, looking to an empty photo frame. "Oh my, yes. Something very important to me." Hayner stepped forward, eyes gentle. "Just so you know, we didn't do it." Mikoto smiled, running her fingers through her cat's fur. "I believe you." Hayner sighed in relief, as Roxas smiled. "Thanks for that, Ma'am. What did they take from you, if you don't mind us asking?" Mikoto picked up her cat, heading back into the shop. "My -----. My precious -----." As the doors shut behind her, Hayner crossed his arms. "Looks like the culprit is going around stealing -----. And not just -----, but the word ----- too." Pence frowned in thought. "This obviously isn't your average thief." Olette tilted her head, hands laced behind her back. "I wonder if Seifer would know anything about this." Roxas snapped his fingers. "We gotta talk to him, come on!" The small group ran to the Sandlot, where instead of seeing Seifer, they saw the rest of his group. Rai, the eldest stood at almost 6 and a half feet, tanned skin appearing a deep brown. He was the exact opposite of his sister, Fuu. She was tiny, 4 foot something with almost while skin. While he was loud and outspoken, she only spoke one or two words at a time. The last member of their group was also the smallest. Tiny Vivi, with his odd clothes and mannerisms, was the only one who didn't see combat in the slightest. He was also the one who noticed Roxas' group first. His pointing made Fuu and Rai turn. "Thieves." "That was low, y'know!" Hayner growled, clenching one hand into a fist. "Oh yeah?" "Nice comeback there Blondie." Seifer walked into view, grey trenchcoat swinging out behind him. Hayner snarled at the sight of his rival. "What'd you say?" Seifer smirked, taunting them. "You can give us back the ----- now." "Yeah! You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?" Roxas clenched a fist, bright blue eyes narrowing. Something was off here, there was an odd scent in the air. Soot, metal, and something else. Salt? No... it was blood. Roxas didn't have much time to dwell on this, as Seifer spoke up once more. "That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers. So what did you do? Burn it? Heh, not that we need some ----- to prove that you're losers." "Replay!" Seifer laughed, smiling at Fuu over his shoulder. "Now you're talking!" Seifer's group readied thier struggle weapons. No matter how heated thier spats became, they'd all agreed to never use real weapons to duel. It was to make sure that no one would be brutally harmed. Hayner growled, settling his wieght onto one leg. Seifer smirked. "I guess if you get onto your knees and beg, I might let this slide." Roxas smirked, gently pushing his way past Hayner. His friend blinked in shock as Roxas began to kneel, only to whoop in joy as the younger boy sprang up, grabbing a struggle club and knocking Seifer's out of his hand in one fell swoop. The scarred man fell to the ground, and his friends raced to keep him out of view. "Seifer's not feeling so hot, y'know!" Fuu nodded. "Tournament decides." A clicking sound made Roxas turn around, blinking as a harsh flash of light made his eyes hurt. When his vision cleared a moment later, he smiled back at Pence. The younger boy had snapped a picture of Seifer on the ground, and had caught Roxas' victorious smile in film. Pence flashed him a thumbs up, then yelped as white, snake like creature snapped up the camera, heading for Tram Common. Heyner and Olette ran after it, Pence and Roxas fast on thier heels. They split up to find it, Roxas heading for the Woods through a hole in the wall that had been there as long as he could remember. The white creature was almost dancing across the trees, almost as if it wanted Roxas to follow it. Barely managing to keep it in sight, Roxas followed it to the Old Mansion. It stood in front of the gate while he caught his breath, and as Roxas moved closer, it spoke, even though it's mouth never moved. We have come for you, my liege. Roxas blinked in shock, stepping back. ---- "Both of you, up!" "Wha, DiZ, what the hell?" "They've found us." ---- The Creatures mouth began to open like a zipper, and once it finished, it lunged at Roxas. He yelped, rolling away from the strange thing. He didn't have a weapon with him, he'd dropped his struggle club while he was chasing after this thing. After another tense moment, Roxas felt a wieght in his hand. He looked down, jumping in shock as he saw the Kingdom Key in his hand. This had been in his dreams of Sora! But then, why did he have it? With no time to think on this, Roxas attacked. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen that his movements were exactly like Sora's. The white creature fell to his blade quickly, becoming all the photos that had vanished from the town. The Kingdom Key vanished from his hand as mysteriously as it had come, leaving Roxas to pick up the scattered photos. Once they'd all been collected, he returned to the Usual Spot, much to everyone's relief. As Roxas tried to ward off Olette's mothering, one photo fell onto Hayner's shoe. He bent down to pick it up, tilting his head. "What's this?" Roxas peeked over Olette's shoulder to see what Hayner meant, and smiled. "I was his first customer after he took over the shop, so we took a picture together." Olette smiled as she took if from Hayner's outstretched hand. "It's a really nice photo. Oh!" She put her hands to her mouth. Pence smiled. "Hey! You just said 'photo'!" Hayner sat down on his normal spot, leaning back against the wall. "So, Roxas. Tell us about the Picture Thief." Roxas shook his head, it would be better not to say anything about the strange White Creature and that Keyblade. They'd call him crazy, among other things. "Not much to say really, the pictures were just lying there, all over the ground near the old Mansion." Hayner started to sulk. "Then how do we prove we aren't the ones who took them." Roxas shrugged, setting down the photos on a small table next to Hayner. The older boy picked one up, chuckling. "It's a girl." Olette smiled. "You look happy Roxas." "Do not!" Everyone laughed, Pence sobering up as he noticed something. "Hey, has anybody noticed that all these pictures have Roxas in them?" Olette snaped her fingers. "Ohh, so that's why everyone thought it was us..." Hayner stared in disbelief, before putting his head in his hands. "So Seifer didn't fo around accusing us after all? Great. Just great!" Roxas smiled at his old friend, before turning to Pence. "Are they really all of me?" The younger boy nodded, handing the photo's to Roxas. Every single one had him standing beside or in front of someone, smiling. After a moment of staring at one photo, Pence spoke up. "Right? Every single one. Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something? Ow, Hayner!" Pence yelped, Hayner had smacked him over the head. The eldest's eyes were angry, though his town was light. "C'mon, get serious. Why would anyone want to steal a bonehead like Roxas?" Roxas screwed up his face. "Oh, thanks!" All four laughed, hands around thier stomachs. Roxas looked up as the Station Bells rang, and the last train ran along the tracks heading home. Pence and Olette waved goodbye, headed for home. Hayner followed a moment after, but stopped in his tracks with one hand on the cloth. "If anyone does try to take you away from us Roxas, just tell me. I'm not letting anyone take my brother away." Roxas nodded, smiling. "Thanks, Hayner." The older boy smirked, running out of the Usual Spot. Roxas left after his friends, only to have to shield his eyes from the harsh sunlight a moment later. Where, am I? "Who's there?" Who are you? ---- Restoration at 12% ---- I sighed, shaking my hair from my face as I backed out of the last Firewall Program.That would keep them out for a few days, hopefully long enough for Axel to get here and cart Roxas and Nami off to safety. I felt Riku come up behind me before I heard him and DiZ come down the stairs, and I turned to meet his eyes. "It'll keep them outta here for a little while, but it's not a permanent solution DiZ." The crimson clad man peered over my shoulder at the computer screen, amber eye wide with disbelief. "Organization micreants, they've found us..." I stumbled off the chair, straight into Riku's arms. He looked to DiZ as I tried to regain my balance. "But, why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" DiZ shook his head, beefing up the security systems I'd restored. "Both are nothing but data to them. The fools would never be able to tell the difference." The old man shook his head, sending the computer mainframe onto standby mode for the night. "We are running out of time. Naminé must make haste. Return to your room. My apologies for waking you both." I stared after DiZ as he left the basement, leaving Riku leaning against one wall with me half-asleep in his arms. Before I could even try to stand up straight on my own, he'd already swept me up into a bridal-style carry. I half-heartedly protested, but didn't bother trying to get him to let me walk. Even as I drifted back to sleep curled up to Riku's chest, my mind was racing. DiZ had been right. We were running out of time. We didn't have a week now. I knew that code, someone had violently hacked the computer below us. At best, we had three days left. Day Four had been the Struggle Tournament. Axel should arrive, and he can cart those two back to safety. If only I'd known how wrong I was... ----- You'll be safe, in my arms ---- A/N: Written to "In My Arms" by Plumb, which is where the last lyric comes from. Considering Roxas' coloring, it does make sense. Well, until next time. Silver
Spelling errors, again? (smacks herself) Darn it. (runs back to fix those) As for the age thing, they spent six months in Kingdom Hearts itself (The World Behind the Door, as I call it), then a Year on the run/in Traverse Town. During my CoM, they were both 16-ish-17-ish and now it's been a year since. Riku has since turned 18, with Christie's birthday three months away. (In my version, his birthday is March 28th, while hers is June 25th) It's about to be April in the story, despite the fact it's January in real life. Guess I wanted springtime, considering it's freezing down here! Anyway, I hope that helped your questions, and I thank you for the comment. Don't hesistate to ask more questions, I love answering them. Silver
Oh, the wonders of being bored outta your skull will do for writing fan fiction! Here's the next chapter of BF, do enjoy! ---- Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1 ---- Chaos was the only way to describe it. People running this way and that, screaming orders at other people as they tried to heal each other and find loved ones. It had been going on like this for nearly an hour now, and I could tell Nii-san had a headache. Yuffie was trying to calm him down, but it wasn't working. "Come on Leon, just pull yourself together and think. You're the leader here, people need you." Even Cloud stepped back at the look in Leon's eyes, and I winced. This really wasn't working. After a few moments of not being able to hear myself think, I'd had it. We were still outside in the Marketplace, so I climbed up onto one of the shop roofs. Taking a deep breath, I screamed at the people running around like Headless Chocobos. "QUIET!!" It worked like a charm, everyone shut up to stare at me in confusion. Nii-san nodded his thanks, turning to the crowd. "I know you've all been through a lot over the last few hours, losing a home is never easy. But you're still alive, you're still all here. I know this is all very confusing to you, you've already been uprooted at least once before. But, this place, this world, it can become your second home now." Leon took a deep breath, and I leapt off the roof to stand by his side. He nodded, and I stepped back. "I can't guarantee you'll be safe here, this world isn't secure yet. But what I can promise you one thing. You can start new lives here, if you want. Hollow Bastion needs people to help with the repairs, to help get it's economy back into working order. My family and I, we can't do it alone. I know that this is a lot to ask of you, especially after what just happened at Traverse Town, so I'll understand if you say no. But for those of you who wish to help, and even those who don't, our doors are always open." Leon stepped back, away from the crowds view. After a moment of tense silence, Alicia stepped forward, turning to the people behind her. "I honestly don't care what you idiots do. I almost lost my son to a monster back there, and had it not been for Christie, that man's baby sister, neither Logan nor I would be here. You owe Christie and Riku your lives, the least you can do is pitch in and make this world a better place. Help them help us." Alicia's speech raised the crowds spirits, and they all cheered in Leon's favor. Yuffie laughed, jumping into Leon's arms as Aerith and Cloud smiled. I chuckled, twining my hand with Riku's. No matter what happened, we would see this through to the end. ---- We stayed at Hollow Bastion for a week, helping Nii-san get everyone settled in. The old Residential District had to be cleaned out of Heartless rather quickly, and I learned that despite being a White Mage, Aerith is NASTY with those Ultima Spells. The Heartless she targeted with that thing, well, there wasn't a thing left behind to clean. The first time Riku saw that happen, he leaned over to me. "Remind me to never tick her off." I could only laugh at the seriousness in his voice. The remaining Heartless were cleared out with no problem, and the rest of the District was cleared for habitation within an hour. People flocked in, claiming apartments and housing in a rather orderly fashion, no scrambling over each other to get at the cream of the crop. Then again, what was there wasn't exactly the best to choose from in the world, but they were happy with it. Alicia opened a new Cafe on the second day she was there, finding the perfect building for it. It did lack the mirrored pillars that had been her pride and joy, but she was happy with it. It became quite the hangout for the new residents, a piece of home in a new world. Vincent spent a lot of time there, helping Alicia and Logan get settled. Besides helping out a family that had just been uprooted, I think there was another reason to him helping out. I think he really missed Tifa. As a child, I'd seen those two hang onto each other for dear life after the death of Tifa's father. She needed comfort, and Vincent could give it well. But she hadn't been seen since the invasion, so I think Vincent was trying to move on, instead of moping around like he'd done when Lucrecia died. It was a good thing too, since a moping Vinny Valentine is a man no one wants to be around. The days flew by, repairs, sleeping, eating, training, more sleeping, that kinda stuff. On the sixth day, someone made a surprise visit and nearly sent both Riku and I jumping up to the ceiling. After spending nearly three days jumping a foot in the air at the sound of a Dark Portal opening, we're entitled to be jumping out of our skins. Instead of taking it peacefully, Nii-san and Vincent jumped to attention from thier places just across the Bailey, weapons in hand before DiZ had even stepped through the portal completely. The red-clad man blinked, before shaking his head. "I come in peace, I only need to speak to Christina and Riku." Nii-san snarled, Revolver cocked and ready to fire. "I don't think so. The last time I saw you, you were threatening to kill her if we didn't help you." I glared at DiZ, and he seemed to shrink back. Riku had Soul Eater in hand, and I could hear Vincent loading his gun. "Start talking, but we aren't leaving you alone with either of them." I could have kissed Vincent then and there for being the voice of reason, but I nodded my thanks. DiZ turned to face both of us, and I knew where this was going. "I need both of you to go to the Nobody stronghold and take Roxas. He is Sora's nobody, and we need him to reawaken Sora. Be there in two days." Leaving us on that note, he backed into his portal and faded away. The moment he was out of sight, Nii-san turned around and punched the wall behind him, hard. "I'm going to skin that man alive if it's the last thing I do!" The other three of us jumped, he'd never seemed so angry before. Footsteps made us look towards the town, as an out of breath Yuffie came running into view. "The towns under attack!" Vincent was the first to run from the Bailey, Riku, Leon and I hot on his heals as Yuffie led the way. When we reached the Burrough, it was all I could do not to drop to my knees in shock. Along with the run of the mill Heartless attacking, there were Dusks and Creepers swiping at people and buildings. Leon snarled, jumping straight into the fray with a battle cry. Cloud was at his back in a second flat, while Aerith and Yuffie were busy protecting the townsfolk. Riku and I leapt into the battle blades first, cutting through white and black as Vincent covered all of our backs from the distance. It was almost an hour before the last of the Nobodies faded back into the nothingness they'd come from. We all heaved a sigh of relief, heading for Merlin's House. Cid and the old Wizard let us in with open arms, and Aerith took to healing us. Leon shrugged off her concern, heading back outside. Yuffie made to go after him, but Clouds hand on her shoulder made her stop. "Let him go. Leon needs time to think." I sighed, heading up the stairs after wishing everyone a good nights rest, I needed to think on my own. In order to find Roxas in time, we'd need to leave tomorrow morning, no later then lunch hour. That meant leaving at dawn, without saying goodbye. I hated doing that. But what needed to be done needed to be done, so I shook the thought from my mind and crawled into bed. I don't know how long I just lay there, thinking about how things would turn out. I feigned sleep when two pairs of footsteps passed my door, rolling over as Aerith and Nii-san spoke up from just past the door. "Leon, you knew this would happen. There would be a time that she would have to leave." "But she's my baby sister...I just can't let her go Aer.." "I know. But she isn't a baby anymore Leon, she's almost 18 now. She's almost legal age. Eventually, you're going to have to let her go." Leon sighed, and a floorboard creaked as he shifted his weight. "That's not making it any easier." A third pair of footsteps came up the stairs, Yuffie's sleepy voice sounding strangely serious. "Squall, nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I know it's gonna hurt you pretty bad, but you have to let her go sometime. Every bird has to spread it's wings eventually, keeping Chrissy caged is only going to make her mad at you." Leon sighed, and the girls took that as an answer, heading back down the stairs. I sat up in bed as the door creaked open, Leon poking his head in. Despite the fact he's a very calm person most of the time, I've never seen him look so out of place as that night. Instead of just peeking in and then heading back out as he'd done when I was a little girl, he came in and shut the door behind him. A moment of silence stretched between us as he walked over to the bed, before he sat down near my hip. "You're leaving in the morning, aren't you?" "Yeah. As much as I hate DiZ, he's right. Sora's family, blood related or not." Leon nodded, fiddling with a loose thread on my blanket. He took a deep breath after a moment, seemingly steeling himself for something he didn't want to do. "You're, going to come back, right?" And it finally clicked. He was afraid I wasn't going to come back. He was afraid to lose the only family he had left. I shook my head. "Of course I'm coming back. I'm not gonna leave you here alone you know, I'm not that crazy." He blinked, looking like a deer caught in the headlights in the yellow glow of the street lamps outside of my window. I smiled, and he ruffled my hair as he stood from the bed. "I should have known better than to worry." Giggling, I laid back down to try and get some sleep. "We'll see you off tomorrow, sleep well." Already half asleep, I just nodded as he shut my door with a quiet "click". The next thing I knew, dawns rays were streaming into my room and I was being shaken awake by Yuffie. "Get up Chrissy, you'll be late." It took a moment to chase the sleep from my brain, but when it clicked as to what Yuffie meant, my eyes widened and I gently shoved her from my room. Before the door shut behind her, she yelled. "Leon left some clothes for you, they're on the dresser!" I whirled around, and sure enough, their they were. I shook my head, fingers running over the cloth. Back denim shorts, knee length, another dark purple tank top and a black sleeveless hoodie along with a new pair of sneakers. Nii-san must have know my taste in colors had changed. Giggling at that thought, I quickly got dressed before running out the door and down the stairs. Riku met me at the front door, and we ran off. A few steps into the Burrough, he skidded to a stop. "Chris, your jacket..." I turned, bouncing from one foot to the other. "What about it?" "It's got your symbol on it." Blinking in shock, I shrugged out of the item of clothing and flipped it over. Sure enough, there was the silver Griever head that made up the Leonhart family crest. But instead of just that, it also had Leon's red Angel wings, one on each side of the roaring lion. It was the symbol that Nii-san and I adopted after Dad left us. Smiling, I slipped back into the hoodie and took Riku's hand in mine. I think he knew my smile was answer enough, because he let me lead the way back to the Bailey. Just as he'd said, Nii-san and everyone else was there. Even grouchy old Cid who wouldn't wake up until half past noon on most days was there, even though he probably would have hit the floor a long time ago if Vincent was standing right next to him. Cloud and Aerith were looking out over the Great Maw as Yuffie sat on the window ledge. Leon was pacing a bit, and I laughed quietly. He must have heard me, because he spun on his heel to face us. For a moment, everything was peaceful. No Heartless, just our big family. But nothing peaceful ever lasts with us, for the moment that Leon made to walk closer to us, a Dark Portal opened up in the wall beside us. Axel's flame colored hair was a dead give away, and the look in his face told me that something was seriously wrong. Before he'd even opened his mouth, Riku was already halfway through the portal with me at his heels. I stopped though, feeling multiple pairs of eyes on my back. Leon looked like a kicked puppy, and Yuffie was a half-second away from falling over laughing. I smiled, hugging my brother around the neck. "Be safe." Nodding into his shoulder, I ran into the portal. "Always!" ------ The World that Never Was is a dreary place. Dreary, dark, cold, and always raining. Did I mention the Heartless? Didn't think so. Droves of dark Shadows, running up and down the streets like ants in a rainstorm. I clicked my tongue, that wasn't so far off the mark as most people would think. Standing here, draped in a shadow of my own, I wait. Axel had explained that Roxas had caught wind of DiZ's plan, and coupling that with his desire to know why the Keyblade had chosen him, had taken off in the middle of the night. The fire-haired man had delivered us to a hotel, than ran off to find his friend. That was almost three days ago, and we'd already encountered Roxas. As you can probably guess, that didn't go so well. Roxas had been prepared for someone coming his way to stop him from running, and we'd thoroughly gotten our asses kicked. Riku had taken the whooping personally, and was now cutting his way through any heartless that dared to get near his blade. At the rate he was going, there would be no shadows left in this world. Sighing, I leaned back against the wall, only to stand ramrod straight a heartbeat later. There was a scent on the wind, and it was alarmingly familiar. Salt water, coconut, and cookies. Sora's smell, mixed with Darkness. Roxas had returned, and he didn't know we were here. Riku tensed, and I nodded. Ducking back into the shadows, I resumed my place as a watcher while Riku headed up to the top of Memory's Skyscraper. If things were playing out as the game progresses them, this was Deep Dive. Now, I'm not one for praying to any deity or something of the like, but at that moment, I was praying to any God that was listening to keep Riku safe. I should have known, they would never listen. Roxas came into view, hood up and sneakered feet clicking on wet tile. He walked into the middle of the plaza, the stood still as Neoshadows came crawling up from the ground. Instead of waiting for the Darkness to come to him, Roxas summoned his weapons, the Keyblades Oathkeeper and Oblivion. In a series of graceful movements and jumps, he cleared out the Heartless in a few fell swoops. Some remained however, as his attention was changed from the street he stood on to the rooftops above. Riku stood on the edge of the Skyscraper, and were it not for the blindfold that covered his now amber eyes, I knew he would have met Roxas in a death glare. Roxas took the challenge, back flipping onto the skyscraper. Now, most of the laws of physics got thrown out the window long before tonight, but any sane person will have thier jaw dropping to the ground when they see a seventeen year old boy walking up a vertical wall while slashing away at Heartless. Needless to say, I'm not very sane. But I'm still human, and that humanity had to be forced away when Riku jumped clear of the Skyscrapers ledge, catching Oblivion as Roxas threw it in something akin to a Strike Raid. From his place on the top of the tower, Roxas sneered down at Riku and I. "Where is Sora?" Riku shrugged, smirking and moving his hand in a "come here" gesture. Roxas took the bait a second time, diving from the tower. Landing foot first directly in front of Riku, Roxas charged. Blades clashed and after a moment, Riku hit the ground. "Why?! Why do you have the Keyblade?" Roxas examined Oathkeeper, before he snarled. "Shut up!" I had to cover my mouth to stop from shouting out a warning to Riku, but there would have been no need anyway, as he leapt from the ground, rebounding Roxas' strike with one of his own, sending the blond to the ground and knocking his hood off. I stepped out of the shadows as Riku walked to stare down at Roxas, sighing as my boyfriend drove Oblivion into the asphalt almost on top of Roxas' brain. A silent moment passed by, before Riku jerked in surprise. Roxas was waking up, using Oblivion as a crutch to stand before swinging it at Riku. Riku had backed away as Roxas was standing, and the younger boy now had to run to clear the gap between them. Riku launched a Dark Aura blast to try and knock Roxas back a second time, but Oblivion cut through it, clearing the path. Roxas swung at Riku a few times, but the silver-haired eighteen year old simply jumped aside and away, staring down his best friends Nobody. Roxas snarled. "Quit fooling around!" Riku smirked. "What's wrong, Sora? Are you done already? Pretty pathetic." For just one moment, Sora's reaction to Riku's words shone through Roxas. "What are you talking about? You're the one who's losing!" Blinking in shock, Roxas put one hand to his mouth. Riku smiled sadly, sighing as his shoulders slumped. "You really are his Nobody.... Look's like I have to trust DiZ this time." Roxas fumed, wildly gesturing around with one fisted hand. "Why do you keep talking about him?! I'm myself, not Sora!" The blond snapped, summoning Oathkeeper back from the void. He charged at Riku, putting all his energy into one swing that broke through the last minute Dark Shield Riku had cast. Crying out in pain, Riku was tossed back onto the asphalt. I ran to his side, dagger in hand in case Roxas tried that tactic again. I didn't need to though, Riku managed to stay on his feet, however shaky he was now. Roxas glared at us. "You can't beat me, no matter how hard you try! You want to repeat last time?!" Riku shook his head, one arm on his knee. "I guess so..." He stood up straight, squuezing my hand before turning to face Roxas once more. I took my cue, backing up a few steps. I knew what was coming, and as I much as I hated this, I had no choice but to stand back. "Looks like I'll have to do it." Roxas tensed, taking a step back. "Do what?" "The power is sitting in my heart." Removing his blindfold, Riku let the strip of black cloth fall to the ground, revealing his amber eyes. "The powers suppressed by my heart. If I were to become someone else, then maybe...." I bit my lip, taking one more step back as Riku called upon the Darkness in his heart, shrouding himself in pillers of Dark energy. For those few moments, I couldn't feel him in my own heart, and I barely held my scream of fear back. Roxas readied to attack, but didn't get the chance. Less than a second after the transformation, Riku attacked, Heartless Gaurdian's hand choking Roxas and holding him above the ground. Survival became first priority, and Roxas dropped his keyblades to try and remove the large hands of Darkness choking him. "The power of Darkness." When Roxas stopped struggling, Riku let him down, gently setting him onto the dry flooring. The Heartless on his back faded away, no longer needed. I sighed in relief, despite his change in appearence, Riku's heart hadn't changed at all. I could still feel him, still feel the connection we shared. Axel reappeared a moment later, and I knew it was taking all his self control not to attack us to get Roxas. He looked me in the eye. "Promise you'll go through with the entire plan?" I nodded, shoving Riku's hand away as he poked my arm. "Promise. They'll be fine Axel, I swear." The red-head nodded, sending a half hearted glare at Riku. "You owe her, you owe her a damn lot kid. I suggest you don't tick me off." Riku blinked in surprise, but nodded to Axel as the older man headed back into the town proper. We must have been there for a little over five minutes before a second pair of footsteps came into hearing range. Riku stiffened, and I sagged. There was a lecture coming, I just knew it. King Mickey sighed, crossing his arms and tapping one foot. "I finally manage to track you two down, and instead of finding you the way you should be, I find this mess! What's gotten into you both? Riku, you know better than to use Darkness so recklessly. And don't think you're off the hook either young lady, you know how to stop him when he gets like this, why didn't you?" Instead of vocally answering his question, I just pointed at Roxas, laying next to the tiny kings foot. Mickey jumped back at least a foot, relaxing as he noticed Roxas' chest raising and falling. With still unanswered questions in his eyes, Mickey looked between Riku and I. The boy-turned-man beside me sighed, looking his surrogate father in the eyes. Something passed between them, and Mickey nodded, ears drooping however slightly. "Alright. You'll be safe, right?" I nodded, and Mickey turned to walk away. Riku spoke up before he left our sight though. "Mickey, if you see Sora, please don't tell him about this. I'd rather he doesn't know." I almost punched Riku in the arm, but Mickey's turning footsteps made me stop. The King had never looked so old before that day, he had always seemed happy. But now, he seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Riku, I can't make that promise. Sora, he sees you as a brother. I can't not tell him you're still alive." Riku shook his head. "Then tell him I'm ok. Just don't tell him the last time you saw me was, like this." Mickey sighed, but nodded. "I'm not happy about this, I hope you know that." At Riku's nod, Mickey drew his cloak back over his ears. "Alright then. Riku, Christie, good luck." The King ran off, heading into the city as we watched him leave. Riku sighed, turning to me. At the look in his eyes, I bit the inside of my lip. I knew that look, he wasn't about to try that again, was he? "Chris, I don't think it's a good idea if we keep bieng together anymore. With me looking like this and all, some people will get the wrong idea." I clenched my fists. I knew this would happen, I just knew it. Riku yelped as I punched him on the arm, hard. "Screw people! So what if they're going to complain, I'm not a baby who can't care for herself anymore!" Riku took a step back, hands up to ward off another attack. "I never said you were, I'm just saying that it might not be a good idea." I glared at him, stomping the few steps up to him until I was nose to breast bone with him. "And have bad ideas stopped you before? No, they have not. This was a bad idea, and you still did it. Falling for me was a bad idea, and you still did it." I put one hand on his chest, pale skin standing out against the black cloth. I could feel his heartbeat, it continued the same rhythm it had always done. Riku covered my hand with his own, lifting my chin to make me look him in the eye. For a moment, instead of bright amber, there was bright aqua staring down at me, and Xehanort's form had been replaced with the boy he truly was. Riku smiled. "Always the voice of reason. And for the record, falling in love with you wasn't a bad idea. It was the best one I ever had." I smiled brightly, standing on the tips of my toes to be able to kiss him full on the mouth. We didn't break apart until a Dark Portal came to life behind us. Riku pulled up his hood quickly, and I stepped back as DiZ stepped through the portal. The crimson clad man stared down at Roxas' unconsious form. After a moment of silence, I spoke up. "He sensed Sora." DiZ looked to me. "Did he say he hated Sora? What a joke." I glared at DiZ, but said nothing. "A Nobody cannot feel emotion." Riku sighed, looking me in the eyes from underneath the hood of his cloak. "If he were to meet Sora, that might be different." DiZ stared at Riku with surprise in his eye, but only scoffed. "Be that as it may, he won't be meeting Sora. Come, bring him along." Riku nodded, picking Roxas up from the ground. As we followed DiZ through the portal, I could only hope that things would go according to plan. Within the next week, we'd have to wake Sora up and get Roxas and Nami away from DiZ and into safety with Axel. The sound of a computer brought me from my thoughts, and I stood near the staircase as Riku placed Roxas into the gate to the Digital Twilight Town. DiZ activated the fake town, and Roxas disappeared in a flash of Binary code. Riku and DiZ exchanged words, and I headed up the stairs with Riku on my heels. Nami greeted us with a smile, but I saw the tiredness in her eyes. The next week would be hard on us all, but I had a feeling it would go well enough. Little did I know how wrong I would be. ---- A/N: Whoo boy, this has been the longest chapter I've written so far. It clocked at almost 5000 Words, or 9 Pages. It's not going to be the longest chapter, I can say that much. Every try to novelize a battle with almost 10 people running around at once? Yeah, it ain't easy. Still, I'm gonna keep at this. Till next time! Silver
Hey everyone, it's me once again. I'm here to post my final KH-Trilogy Story here, as the rest (If any) will be to violent for KH-Vids. War ain't pretty, as I'm pretty sure we all know. Anyway, please enjoy the prologue to what's shaping out to be my longest story so far. (This one clocks in at almost 3000 words!) ----- Disclaimer: Ok, listen up and listen good, I'm only gonna say this once. Kingdom Hearts and all it's Locations and Characters are Sqaure-Enix/Disneys. Christie, Kia, The Crest Lock System, Infinity and this story are my own. No sticky paws, or I will hunt you down and HURT you. Are we clear? Good. ----- The worlds as we know them are ever changing. One day, the sun may rise, and the next, maybe it won't. But one thing is always there. It has been here since the beginning of time, and will be here long after we are gone. Do you know what it is I speak of? Bonds. Be they the bonds of family, of parent and child, or siblings born years apart. Or be they the bond of love. Of husband and wife, of lovers, or of soulmates. Whomever they connect, bonds are within us all. They form a complex array, connecting one person so someone they may never meet but know somehow. Some bonds are so strong they withstand lifetimes of abuse and sadness. Others are weak enough to crumble with a single argument, and some never last beyond formation. But no matter how long they last, bonds are with us for every step of our lives. This, is the story of my bonds. Who am I, you ask? Well, let me start at the beginning. After all, we are all Bonded by Fate ----- Third District, Traverse Town ------ I backflipped away from Riku's strike, grabbing my daggers in midair. He smirked, taunting me with his hand as he reclaimed Soul Eater. We stared eachother down, waiting for the first move to be made. After a moment, he shifted his foot a little, and I struck. Black and navy blue blades clashed in dance of metallic screeching, and we both jumped back. A third set of footsteps broke us out of our combat mode, and I turned to Cid with a smile. The older man was looking like he'd run a marathon, red faced and gasping for breath . "I don't know how you two do it! I get tired just watching you spar!" Riku chuckled, Soul Eater fading from his grip as he shook long hair from his eyes. "Could be cause we're less than half your age, old man." Cid smirked, flicking his toothpick. "I've been fighting since you were in diapers, you brat." I laughed, those two. Cid headed back to his shop after a little chat between the three of us, RIku and I making for the Cafe. Time for lunch. The second I'd said that, both of our stomachs growled loud enough to be heard across teh district. Riku and I shared a strange look, before I shrugged. What can ya do when your body decides it's time to protest? Not much. ----- My first deep bond was with my Brother, Leon. I know what you're thinking, what about my Parents? Well, Leon was both Mom and Dad to me. "Daddy Dearest" ran out on us soon after I was born, and my Mom died in Childbirth. Leon cared for me until i was six, and we were seperated in the Heartless invasion. I didn't see him again until I was fifteen. ----- Meals in Traverse Town were a familial affair. Since Riku and I had been here constantly over the past year, the Owner and her son knew us well. They knew that Riku was allergic to peppers, and that I couldn't stand garlic. They also knew that we had claimed the corner table on out first day, as far from the door as we could get. Neither of us sat somewhere from where we couldn't see or hear the doors opening, call it nervous habit. Lunch today was a quiet affair though, something seemed off in the Cafe. I kept quiet as we passed three of the booths, the people inside them giving me odd stares. Alicia, the shop's owner, gestured us to the counter as soon as she saw us. "See the man in the first booth? He hasn't ordered a thing, but he's been here since opening time. Can I ask you two to sit here today and keep an eye on him?" Riku nodded, knowing I'd agree. Alicia had served as a surrogate mother to us both over the past year, and Logan was the brother that I missed dearly. We ordered the same thing as always, and Alicia left with our order. Riku and I chatted casually, but we kept our senses trained to the man in the booth behind us. There's something I should mention. In the Cafe, there are these two metal pillars just behind the counter. They're Alicia's pride and joy, and she keeps them shining clean every day. They served as mirrors for those sitting at the counter to see the door, and they served the purpose of letting me watch the man at the booth. Logan nodded to us as he delivered our meals, and even as we ate I kept my eyes on the man. He just sat there, and after we'd finished, I was wondering if he was asleep there. But a sharp movement from him told me otherwise, and I ducked my head as he stared in my direction. But I kept my eyes on the pillar, jaw dropping as I saw the reflection. Blue hair, cat slit gold eyes, elven ears, it could only mean one person. "Saïx...." ------ My second and third deep bonds were with my adoptive Mom and Granpa. She raised me from six years old, and he was like a father to me. He died when I was fourteen, leaving me without a father for a second time in my life. Mom, she tried to pull it all together, and almost succeeded. I don't know if she really did though, I was brought here before then. It's been almost four years now, and I haven't seen her since. ------ Riku must have heard the fear in my voice, cause he turned and glared at Siax, placing his hand on the small of my back. The blue-haired Organization memeber left the Cafe after reciecing the business end of Riku's glare, and Alicia sagged in relief. "Thank Bahamut. He was beginning to give me the creeps!" I nodded to Riku's concerned look, paying for our meal. If Saïx was here, it could only mean that the Organiation was on the move somehow, and that was NOT a good thing. As we helped Cid pack his things for his trip to Hollow Bastion, my mind was everywhere but where I was. Saïx was the member I'd had the most trouble with during the game, he had been even tougher than Xemnas. It wouldn't surprise me if that stayed true even now. But why was the Organization moving now? Were they thinking that Riku would serve their purpose? But that wouldn't work, he couldn't use a keyblade at the moment... I shook my head, sending my thoughts scattering. No use thinking about it now, we'd be leaving tonight anyway. After a few hours of packing boxes and loading them onto a ship, I leaned against the Third District Doors. Riku and Cid were exchanging friendly banter, and I smiled. He served as a surrogate father to me and Ri over the past year, one we both sorely needed. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the chilled night air and smoke. Wait....smoke? I shot up from my place against the door, clambering up to Accessory Shop rooftop. Sure enough, plumes of smoke rose from the second district, the Hotel to be exact. Riku suddenly appeared beside me, eyes livid. "Is that what I think it is?" My nod was more than enough of an answer, and we both immediatly headed for the fire. Neither of us was prepared for the chaos to follow. ---- But my strongest bond is with Riku. I suppose you could say we met when I was 12 years old, since that's when I got the first Kingdom Hearts game, but we really met when I was fourteen. I was taken from Earth and sent to the Islands by someone concerned for Sora's safety, but things changed. After the doors were open, we all alnded in Traverse Town. But things happened, and we were seperated. After tha mess ended, Riku adn I were sealed behing Kingdom Hearts. We spent six months behind those doors, before Castle Oblivion welcomed us as it's own. We spent a hellish three days in that place, only to lose track of the king a week later. We arrived at Traverse town almost a month after that, much to Cid's surprise. We haven't left since. ---- I coughed against the smoke flooding the second district, the Hotel wasn't the only building ablaze here. Heartless ran rampant now, destroying everything in their path. Traverse Town was dying, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. I had to shake my head violently to get the tears out of my eyes, and I knew Riku was barely controlling his rage at the sight of so many Heartless. Screams from afar broke us from our thoughts and we took off running in different directions. I lost count of the amout of Blizzara spells I cast over that harrowing hour, only stopping when I saw smoke coming from the First District as well. I growled, catching Riku's attention. He ran to my side, silver hair stained grey from the soot falling off the rooftops. "Get these people to Hollow Bastion via the Third District, I'm going to help Alicia." He nodded, understanding as he ran to his task. I ducked around people running to safety and cut down Heartless running after those people. I had to rsuh under a few Darkballs, skidding on the hard cobblestone flooring of the First District. As I ran to the railing, I ducked to avoid being spotted by the man below. Saïx had Alicia and Logan cornered, and the teenage boy looked like he'd tried to wound Saïx, and failed miserably in the process. Alicia was glaring at the nobody, pushing Logan behind her. "I don't care who you are, Christie and Riku are family to us! I won't tell you where they are!" Alicia maintained her glare even as Saïx placed his claymore at her throat, blade extending to it's widest proportions. "Either tell me, or die." Alicia answered the man, by spitting in his face. Throughout this discussion, I had been sneaking up to be behind Saïx. And now, as he raised his weapon to end two lives, I pounced. By legs went around his waist and my arms around his neck to throw him off balance, as I looked to Alicia. "Get to the Third District! Riku will you get you to safety." Logan peeked around his mothers shoulder, watching me struggle to contain Saïx's swings with my small wieght. "But what about you?" I shook my head, calling forth my daggers to get ready to strike. "Don't worry about me, just go!" Alicia nodded, dragging her son through the doors to safety. As much as I hate to admit it, fighting Saïx alone back then really scared me. As far as I knew, he could wipe me out in one hit. But I as willing to take that risk, if only to slow him down. After a few moments of me hanging off his shoulders, I jumped back and scrambled up the stairs. He glared at me, ears extending as the full brunt of his power came to life. "I've orders to exterminate you, and I plan to follow them to the letter. Be it the easy way, or the hard way." I drew my daggers in front of me, glaring at him. That was all the answer he needed, for his eyes became alive with rage as he swung his Claymore in a semi-circle in front of him. "Very well, the Hard way it shall be then." I somehow managed to swallow my fear, forcing it away from the forefront of my mind as I flipped and danced away from the claymore that was trying to take my head off. We danced around eachother, and I stayed uninjured for a little while. I knew the landscape of this place, Saïx didn't. He didn't know about the loose cobblestones on the plaze below, nor did he know about the balcony overheard Alicia's shop. He stumbled over the former and didn't know about the latter until I'd scrambled up it to heal myself from a swing that had thrown me across the District. Whatever you say about Saïx, don't call him physically weak. That man could probably lift Vincent, Cloud and Nii-san without breaking a sweat! After I'd climbed upto the balcony and healed myself, I scanned the burning plaza below for a sign of Saïx. When I didn't see any sign of him, alarms in my head starting ringling incredibly loudly. Over the last three years, I've learned to listen to those alarms through scars and more than one concussion. This time though, I barely reacted in time. I cleared the railing just as Saïx would have chopped my head into pieces, landing in a heap below. That was all it took to lose the fight. Before I could get up, Saïx had me pinned to the ground with his weapon around my neck. As odd as it sounds to whomever reads this now, it didn't hurt. Ever have trouble chasing your peas or corn kernels with a fork? Well, I was the pea or corn trapped between the prongs of the fork. Saïx smirked down at me, golden eyes reverting back to normal. "You have lost, stop your fight." I snarled, hands clenching around my dagger hilts. There was no way I was losing now, no way in hell! Saïx's attention changed from me to the Third District doors, and to Riku as he came through them. The Organization member smiled devilishly, taking his claymore from the ground. Riku saw the older man charge towards in him, and barely managed to bring Soul Eater into his hands before the claymore would have wounded him. I shoved my way up onto my knees, shaking the cobwebs from my head. Riku and Saïx were now locked into a deadly dance of blades, but the elder man was winded from our fight. Still, I wasn't taking any chances. I whistled shrilly, a sign to Riku to duck. He did so, and just in time as well. I had ran at Saïx the moment after I whistled, daggers crossed in front of my chest. The blue-haired man couldn't dodge the attack, and blood flew from the new "X" shaped scar on his nose. I flipped away from the man, smirking. He stumbled back as Riku stood by my side, yellow eyes livid. "I will end you both the next time we meet, have no doubts." Saïx backed into a Dark Portal, leaving RIku and I standing amongst the burning rubble of the First District. Our thoughts were broken as the floors creaked beneath us, cracks showing in the pavement. Riku cursed, grabbing my arm and opening a portal behind us. I didn't question his orders, only followed him through. Just before the portal closed behind us, I saw the First District fall to the flames and Darkness. I closed my eyes in rememberance, then followed Riku to Hollow Bastion. "This war is far from over, we have only just begun. But this time, we are not alone. For in the Darkness, there is hope. We will make our stand, and we will win. I know it." ------- Bonds are what hold us together, through pain and through joy. They keep us strong, and they keep us alive. Without bonds, we would be nowhere. We wouldn't exist as humans, we would be nothing more than empty shells. But becuase of bonds, we are human. My bonds are what keep me fighting for a better tomorrow. For you, or for someone you know, that reason may be different. But whatever the reason, the bonds remain. And I pray, that your bonds last until you are no longer in need of them. Best of luck, Christina Leonhart ------- A/N: And we're done! The Prologue of Bonded Fate is complete. I hope you enjoyed it, I know I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions, please PM me. Until the next chapter, ~SH
Yes, she showed up. My Mom brought up the idea that a Father/Daughter reunion would be a good idea to make DiZ a little more cheerful. Yup, that last bit in italics was from her song. I love it too, ever since I heard it on a "Moonlight" advert. See you all next year, and have a happy holiday! ~Christie
