Sorry for the Double Post, but i come bringing a new chapter! (is 5 days later a double post?) Disclaimer: Christie, The Infinity, The Crest Lock System, and the Koukennin No Ariake belong to me, the rest is Square/Disneys. --- ---- Back on board Infinity with the boys, i let myself relax for a minute. Things had really been messed up with my meddling, but now, they seemed to be fixing themselves. As much as i dislike leaving things up to fate, i don't have a choice here and now. I took my place in the captains seat, smiling to myself as Infinity's voice rang throughout the ship, Sora still jumping as he took his place in the co-pilots seat, hands twitching on the gun turret controls. "Welcome back Captain, that seat was starting to get cold. Sora didn't want to take your place i do believe." I smiled at the boy in the seat next to be, before taking the headset that layed across the flight console. I bit my lip, gathering my courage. "Infinity, open a channel to Traverse Town please." "Understood Captain." Sora leaned back in his seat as we entered the space lanes, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. "Leon was really worried about you, even though Yuffie and I kept telling him you were ok." I shrugged, adjusting my hold on the steering wheel. "Nii-sans like that, he's always been overprotective." Infinity spoke up at that moment. "Channel open Captain, as requested. I have to warn you though, your brother has the other headset, and he isn't happy right now." I gulped, nodding my thanks. "Traverse Town calling Infinity, what is your status?" "We're on the way back Traverse Town, keep the porch light on if you please." I could hear the relieved shouts and whoops from Yuffie, and Vincents near silent chuckle. I could also make out the the relief in Nii-sans voice as he quickly responded. "Understood Infinity, we'll be on the front porch waiting for you. Get your butts back here as soon as you can, understood Nee-chan?" I laughed, turning on the video feed and raising a hand to salute. "You got it, we'll be there as soon as we---Nii-san?!" The signal on both channels had gone blank, static filling my ears as i threw off the headset with Goofy's yell coming from the ship cabin. "Somethings coming up the port side! We're gonna get rammed!" "Goofy's right Captain! Brace for impact!" Infinity barely managed to get the order out before we were rammed by Hooks ship, sending some crates flying, the sound of breaking wood filling my ears. I hoped it was Hook's ship making that splintering sound, but i knew it wasn't. "Damn pirates! I just lost all shields! I'm sorry Captain, i won't be able to stop them from boarding us." I shook my head, quickly undoing my seat belts as Sora leaped over the back of his seat, helping Donald get his wings untangled from the seat belt of the chair next to him. Goofy had already stood from his seat, and he stood near the windows, shield in hand. It didn't do much good though, the Pirate Heartless and Mr. Smee came in through the hatch, and who says pirates never use the front door? I grabbed my daggers from their sheathes, only to stop halfway through the motion as a sword was placed at my neck. Smee spoke up, not stuttering at all. "I'm sorry Missy, but i can't let you do that. Grab the animals!" I turned to Sora, if he could get out of here.... "SORA! RUN!" He hesitated for a split second, but had to backpedal as Donald's Thundara spell forced him to leave the ship, ducking and weaving though the close confines of Infinity, but he made it. I ducked out from beneath the sword that had stopped my movements, grabbing my daggers from their sheaths and beginning to hack through the heartless. Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, we were still outnumbered. During the fight, my daggers had been thrown from my hands with me being unable to get at them, and as such, i was unable to fight. Without a third person backing them up, Donald and Goofy were quickly overtaken, all of us getting thrown over the heartless' shoulders and carted into the brig of Hook's ship, dumped into a heap on top of each other. Donald was quick to jump off of Goofy and I, fluffing his feathers as the Heartless slammed to door in his face. "COME BACK HERE!!" Goofy's hand on his shoulder made the duck stop his tantrum, and i leaned against a barrel, foot tapping on the wood as Donald paced in front of the door. A hatch opened suddenly in the ceiling, and Sora crashed on to the wooden floor, fists clenched. He pushed himself off of the ground, blue eyes livid as he looked back up at the closing hatch. "Riku's got Kairi, I'm gonna guess." I sighed, letting a small thunder spell flicker in between my thumb and forefinger. "How is that possible Christie?! Kairi's safe back at Traverse Town!" I shook my head, hopping off the barrel and moving to the door. "The "Kairi" that Riku gave us was a Heartless in disguise, there's no way he would have traded Kairi for me, not now. Maybe if he was still himself, but not now." Goofy looked at me, arms crossing. "Still himself?" "Riku's being possessed. I don't know if he managed to throw whoever's doing it off or what, but when he kissed me, i know that it was Riku. There's still a chance we can get him back." I turned to face Sora, making our eyes meet. "We're going to get them both back, i promise." Sora nodded, determination coming back to his features as he stood on his tiptoes to look out the door window, taking in the two pirate guards standing watch just outside the door. It was then that Peter Pan made his appearance. "Ahem! How ya doing there? Looking for a way out?" Peter jumped out from the barrel I'd been sitting on, and Goofy turned to face him. "Who are you?" "I'm the answer to your prayers." I held back my laughs as Donald tapped his foot against the wooden floor. Peters face fell. "Okay then, fine. Have it your way." "But your stuck in here to, aren't you?" "No, I'm waiting for someone. She told me to wait here." "Who?" Sora's question was answered as a ball of golden light flew into the room we were in, making a small tinkling sound, much like a small bell. Considering her name, it's not that odd. Tinkerbell flew in front of Peter's face, letting the ball of light she must have used as a shield to cloak herself fade away. Peter sighed, face screwing up. "Tinkerbell, what took you so long? Great job, so you found Wendy? Hold on, there was another girl there too? Are you nuts, there's no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!" Tinkerbell stomped on the air, tiny fists clenched. Donald laughed. "Aha! She must be pretty jealous!" I winced as Tinkerbell stiffened, turning on her heels and flying over, soundly kicking Donald in the beak, leaving his eyes shaking in his sockets as Tink flew back under Peters hat to sulk. Peter sighed, grabbing his hat and shaking it out, making Tink fly out in a huff. "Come on Tink, please open up the door." Tink nodded in what looked like reluctance, flying off. Sora cleared his throat, making Peter open his mouth. "I'm Peter Pan." Sora extended his hand, put Peter pulled his back before they shook. "Okay, we're in this together, but only till we find Wendy." Sora nodded, summoning the keyblade as the door swung open, a firmly grinning Tink floating where one of the Heartless Guards had stood. Peter smiled as she flew back out into the ship, and led us out of the brig. Without my daggers, i hung back with Donald and helped him with the spells. But i gotta tell you, it's odd fighting without them. It was an easy climb up to the second level, and we met no resistance once there. Goofy looked at Peter out of the corner of his eye, stopping. "So, uh, how come you can fly?" "Anyone can fly. You wanna try?" At our nods, Peter whistled shrilly, calling a still angry Tink. He sighed. "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?" The little pixie crossed her arms, turning her wing to Peter, fluttering them. I suppose Peter took that as signal to grab her by the wings, flying over our head. Golden dust fell like snow, sticking to our clothes before fading away. "Just a little bit of Pixie Dust. There, now you can fly!" Donald was the first to try, jumping up and flapping his arms. It got him nowhere though, as he fell before he got a foot off the ground. He tapped his feathery fingers against the wooden floor as Tink laughed in his face, the bell like sound calming. A creak of wood from above made us all look up, and i had to strain my ears to make out Riku's voice. Sora's widened eyes told me he was hearing the same thing. "What?! So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?" "There are seven, supposedly, and Maleficent says that Wendy's not one of them. Hoist anchor as soon as possible, leave all the dead weight behind, including her, and the prisoners." "After the trouble of capturing her? And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning anyway?" "Who knows. As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back and keeping Christie and Sora safe, i couldn't care less." "You're wasting your time! he Heartless have devoured that girls heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever. As for the others, they'll be gone soon enough." "I will find it, no matter what. Sora and Christie will be safe." The voices faded out as a door slammed, making us look away from the ceiling. Sora looked at me. "So, Riku's just trying to keep us all safe?" I nodded, pushing my way through to the kitchen, or as seafarers call it, the galley.. I leaned against the wall, sitting down and pulling my legs to my chest as the boys followed me in. Peter floated above the fireplace, blinking in surprise as Tink flew up to the netting. "Wat is it Tink?" I looked up just a Wendy came into view. "Peter? Peter Pan?" "Wendy! "Please hurry! The pirates are coming!" "What?! I'll be right up there, just hold on!" Sora walked into Wendy's line of sight, blue eyes full of questions. "Wendy?" "Yes?" "Is there another girl up there with you?" Wendy looked away from us, looking towards where Kairi was. "Why, yes. But she seems to be asleep, she hasn't budged an inch since she was brought here." She ran to the door, away from the netting we'd been looking up through as Sora stretched his hand barely managing to touch Kairi's fingers. "Kairi? Kairi!" I smiled as the young girls fingers twitched, and Sora's face lit up, a hopeful noise escaping his throat. It disappeared though, as pirated came into teh room above us and dragged the girls off. Wendy screamed, and Peter's face fell. "Wendy! Sora, we gotta get up there!" Sora nodded, jumping down from the shelf and running back out into the hold. It was a quick trip into the captains cabin, thankfully. Unfortunately, Riku was already half gone. Kairi's limp form was in his arms, and he was backing into a dark portal. Sora outstretched his arm, trying to stop his friend, as i clenched my fists. "Riku, wait!" Sora jumped back as Anti-Sora came into view, shadowy kingdom key in claw. I gulped, hanging back. This was not going to be easy. Spells flew through the air, along with potions and blood. Sora ended up with a new scar on his cheek, that wound caused by Anti-Sora's claw during a mad rush to grab at the Shadow Key. He wiped off the remaining blood, returning the Crab Claw to his belt, walking back over to where i had been standing, revealing a hatch. We returned to a chamber deeper in the hold, and much to Peter's surprise, an unconscious Wendy. "Wendy!" Tink flew up to his face, tinkling in his ears. He swatted her away. "Come on Tink, not now! Sora, Christie, this is as far as I can go, I've got to get Wendy out of here." With the sleeping girl in his arms, Peter flew out the open hatch, and to my knowledge, out of the ship. Tink had flown off in a huff before i could stop her, and i bit my lip. Sora and Donald ran off, climbing back up into Hooks cabin, Goofy waving me over. I hesitated, but the look in Sora's eyes made me swallow that hesitation and take his hand at the top of the ladder. We took a moment to re-equip ourselves, before we exited to the decks. And came face to face with at least half a dozen Pirates, with Captain Hook at the front of thier ranks. He laughed. "Quite a codfish, that Riku, running off with that girl without even saying goodbye." Sora snarled, CrabClaw appearing in his ahnd in a flash of bright blue light. "Run off where?! Tell me, where did he go?" "To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides. But yoou won't be going there." He raised a lantern, TinkerBell captive inside it, tiny fists pounding on the glass. "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind." Sora sighed, allowing Crabclaw to fall away from his grasp. "Hand over the Keybalde, and i'll spare your lives. Be glad i'm merciful, unlike these Heartless. So, which will it be? The Keyblade, or the plank?" Sora winced, niether option was appealing to the poor boy. I looked over to the ships edge when a ticking sound rang throughout our ears, smiling internally as i saw the crocodile. Hook panicked, dropping the lantern containg Tink into Smee's ahnds, before running up the ladder and to the ledge in front of his cabin. "It's him! The crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee, he's back for me other hadn! I can't stay here! Go Away! Oh, i can't stand the sight of him! Smee, you take care of them!" With a slam of wood, Hook disappeared into his cabin. Funny, he's a grown man, afraid of a creature who can't do anything to him so long as he stays on the ship. I shook my head, clenching my fists as Sora was poked out onto the plank, foot half off the wooden board. If he fell, the crocodile would get a snack after all. He smiled, closing his eyes. And jumped off the plank. Donald and Goofy's gasps as he flew back into sight, golden sparkles trailing at his feet made me laugh, i laughed even harder as Peter appeared, swooping in and rescueing Tink from Smee's clutches, guiding Sora to a peaceful landing. "Thanks Peter." "Don't mention it, you didn't think i'd leave you and Tink behind did you?" Sora smiled as Smee ran off, turing to the Heartless, CrabClaw reappearing in his grasp. "You're ALL going down!" The Heartless were defeated rather quickly, a few Fira spells from Doland and a gunpowder barrel impacting with an Air Pirate sped things along as well. We climbed up the ladders to the ledge on Hook's cabin, and Peter knocked on the door, snickering as Hook's fear filled voice came from within. "Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them?" Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, voice now sounding exactly like Hooks first mate. "Aye captain, they walked the plank, every last one of them." The door swung open, Hook coming out at a full run. He peered over the edge of the Balcony, Peter slowly sneaking behind him, dagger in hand. With one swift movemet, Hook had his, ahem, "nether regions" poked, and he jumped a foot in the air. He turned, hands on his rump. "P-Peter Pa-- Blast you!" Peter laughed. "Ready to make a splash you codfish? Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" Hook drew his sword, and we scattered. Sora and Peter took to the air to annoy Hook, while Donald, Goofy and I stayed on the deck, hitting him with spells and droping cannonballs where he would be standing. Unfortuntanly, as he got weaker, he also got desperate. He bagan throwing present shaped bombs in the air at Sora and Peter. Thankfully, they were both able to dodge tehm rather wll, but the aftershock of one bomb threw me back first into the central mast. Hook took that moment to grab me by my shirt collar, hoisting me up. Sora made a move to help, but Hook put his sword to my throat "One move boy and her head goes to the Crocodile!" Sora snarled, baring his teeth. Behind Hook's head, i noticed a flash of bright red and black, before a spinning weapon was thrown. I spat in Hooks face, making him drop me. As Axel's chakram hit the mast, i grabbed my daggers from two of the outlying blades, spinning them in my fingers. Hook swallowed in surprise as i grinned. "Game over." And with one quick movement, i forced him into Peter's reach, the boy leader throwing him overboard into teh waiting Crocdiles sight. With that finished, i scrambled up the ladder, just in time to see Axel disappear into a Dark Portal, smiling at me. I sighed, finishing my climb as the boys arrived on the ledge. "Uh, Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's really lost her-" Donald quickly shushed him. Peter walked forward, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Sora." I still can't believe it. I really flew! Wait till i tell Kairi! I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not." Peter smiled. "You can bring her to NeverLand sometime, and you can show herself. Maybe you can even teach her!" Sora smiled softly, looking up at the stars. "If you believe, you can do anything, right? I'll find Kairi, i know i will. Theres so much i want to tell her, about the Pirates, Flying, and everyign else that's happened. Huh?" Tink had flown in front of Sora's face, flying straight to Peter. "Whats that Tink? What about the Clock Tower? SOmethings there?" Sora's eyes widened, and met mine. "The Keyhole!" ---- It was a quick trip to the Clocktower once Donald, Goofy and I learned the basics of flying. I was still practicing as Peter and Wendy were talking with Sora, so when i noticed one of the clock faces behind an hour or two, i called Sora over. He noticed what i was getting at almost immeadiatly, and we pushed the clock hand down with some considerable effort. Sora flew back, keyblade working it's magic on the Keyhole set between the two and three hour marks. The glow from Big Ben lit up the night sky like a lighthouse, but no-one came up to check on the disturbance. Considering the late hour, i wasn't surprised. Sora flew back up, landing on the ledge, a gummi piece in hand. He shook his head, gesturing to Peter and Wendy. "Peter, are you really going back to NeverLand?" "Afraid so. But we can see eachother anytime you want, so long as you alwys remember NeverLand." Wendy smiled as Peter kissed her hand. Tink however, didn't like it, flying over to Sora and hiding in his spikes in a huff. He winced as her tiny fingers got stuck in his spiked, but made no movement to remove her. Peter sighed as he gathered Wendy up into his arms for the flight back to her home. "Oh boy. She's getting all mad again. Do me a favor you two. Look after her for me, will ya?" Tink popped out of Sora's hair just as Peter flew off. This time, i don't think he's coming back. The look on Tinks face as she crawled into Sora's short's pocket told me she thought the same thing. Sora ran to the end of the ledge, but Peter was already out of range. The boy sighed, and i put my hand on his shoulder. "We have to go. We found the last Navi-Gummi piece, Cid'll install it when we get back to Traverse Town." Donald crossed his arms. "And how do we do that? Our ship's wrecked?" I smiled, flying up to the top of the clocktower. I dug deep into my pocket, where a small radio had been this entire time. It was connected to Infinity's com-channels, more accurately, Traverse Town. I clicked the “talk†button. "Infinity to Traverse Town, come in please" "Nee-Chan! Are you guys alright?" "We’re fine Nii-san, but the engines are scrapped. We could use a pickup." "Understood, we know where you are, and we’ll be there as soon as we can. Hang tight. Traverse Town out" I sighed, returning the radio to my pocket. From my position on top of the Clock Tower, i had one of the best views of the starry sky. I let the chilly night wind blow through my hair, before wiping away my tears. I took one last look at the stars, before drifting back down to where the boys were. We’re almost done with this whole mess, and hopefully, we’ll end this happily. ---- Like?
(smiles) No need to pout, they'll be a few more chapters in this story. And KoM is only the first in the Saga of the Night. Chain of Memories and KH2 are a key part of it all.
Those fillers are staying there, consider it, Home Field Benefits. (laughs) I might have the new update out tonight, in fact, i probably will. I'm almost done with it. Expect a bit of a shocker at the end, i really like how it goes. :sweat: If i say anything else, i'll spoil it! Bear with me a little longer, it'll be out by the end of the day! ----- EDIT: I'm back! Told you it'd be here by the end of the day! Disclaimer: Christie, teh Infinity, The Crest Lock System, and the Koukeninn no Ariake belong to me, the rest is Disney/Squares. ----- The first time I'd ever seen Halloween town, I'd really disliked it. I'd never liked the movie, and the world itself was much to dark. But now that we're here, it's not so bad. Of course, these costumes I'm sure we could do without. "What are we supposed to be?" I shrugged at the elder boy, stopping him from spinning around. "Looks to be like you're a soldier, a dead one at that." Grey, cold skin, check. Torn, bloody military uniform, check. Definitely a dead soldier. He sighed, shoulders sagging. "Cheer up Ri, at least we'll blend in." He looked at me funny, and i shrugged, wings moving my tank top with the gesture. I just hope they won't get tangled on anything. "Think you can fly on those?" I shook my head, and grabbed his hand, suppressing a shiver at how cold it really was, closing my eyes for a split second. ----- "Please Silver, wake up! I need you!" Balled fists kept trying to pump his heart, but nothing worked. The redhead leaned over the brunette, pulling her into him, allowing her to cry out her pain. "He can't be, he can't be dead!" ----- I shook my head, taking a deep breath as Riku looked at me concerned. "Chris? You ok?" I swallowed thickly, but nodded, puling him along. "Yeah, just a headache. Let's get after Oogie before he kills himself" Riku nodded, and we entered the town proper. I rubbed my neck, sighing as Sora walked into view. We always seem to run into each other, and i can't help but wonder why. His blue eyes widened in thinly veiled surprise as he ran over to us, showing fangs as he smiled. I shook my head as he dragged us into the town proper, only to stop suddenly as an explosion rang throughout the small town. We all jumped as heartless appeared int eh courtyard, drawing out weapons. When they didn't attack, Sora cocked his head in surprise, looking away from our calamity as a voice rang out around the small town "And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, the king of nightmares, Jack Skellington." I smiled as Jack made his appearance, coming out of the fountain like it was an elevator. I suppose it was, it certainly was a shortcut from the bridge to here at any rate. Jack walked over to the mayor, both residents of Halloween Town unaware of our presence. I could barely hear them from where we stood, and judging from the looks on the boys faces, they could hear them as well. "Bravo Jack! Bravo! These ghosts will be a big hit at this years Halloween!" "Thank you, thank you! But their movements still need work, it's not scary enough yet. I want to strike bone chilling terror, perhaps Dr. Finkelstein can assist me. I'll go see him" Jack walked away towards the lab where the explosion had taken place as the mayor remained in the square for a moment longer. "Then i';ll go tend to the decorations." With that said, the rotund man walked off out of our sight. Riku and Sora shared a look, and i sighed, returning my daggers to their sheathes, walking off in the direction of the lab. Riku and Sora matched my footsteps before opening the lab door, trudging up the stairs as i slowed slightly. Back on Earth, Finkelstien had been trying to make the Heartless a Heart, but it had failed. Judging from all that had happened, there was a good chance that it would also happen here. But giving the heartless a heart would mean that more nobodies would be created, making things harder when this ends next year. I sighed, stopping next to the open door as we could hear the Doctor and Jack from here. "I don't understand. Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion?" "Nonsense Jack. My devices are always perfect!" Jack snapped his bony fingers, making Sora jump slightly as i hid a giggle behind by hands. "Oh, I've got it! Why of course! The Heartless need a heart! Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to that device?" "Certainly. A heart's not all that complicated. Lets get to work." I growled under my breath, clenching a fist. Who does this guy think he is?! A heart isn't at all complicated my rear! Riku's hand on my arm made me snap out of my thoughts, as Jack had spoken up, reading from a book set on a pedestal in the lab. "TO make a heart, fist take a container with a lock." Dr. Finkelstein rolled his way over to the container that jack had been speaking about, trying to pry the lock open, but unable to. "We need the key to this thing first!" Sora summoned the keyblade to his hand, Crab Claw glowing in the darkness. Riku looked at him in surprise. "You're really gonna unlock it for them? "Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight the Heartless, right? Besides, i want to see the Heartless dance too. Don't you?" Riku shrugged. "Not really, seems wrong." Sora rolled his eyes, walking into the lab with us behind him. I crossed my arms as Sora worked his magic on the locked container, wings twitching in agitation. Jack spoke up, eyes - or lack of- widening in surprise. "My, that was amazing! Uh, and you are?" "I'm Sora, this is Riku and Christie." "Well done Sora! I'd like you all to be a part of this years Halloween" Sora nodded, but snapped back to the matter at hand, pointing to the Ghoul lying on the examination table. "Whats this Heartless doing here?" "Oh, the Heartless came to down just recently. What's frustrating is, i can't get them to dance with me! So the Doctor and i are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite the genius. Okay Doctor, let's continue. The ingredients for a heart: Pulse" A still twitching frog was added to the container "Emotions" The doctor spoke up. "Terror" A large spider. "Fear" The Doctor ran his hand down a sheet of glass, making our ears ring. "Hope and Despair" Twin snakes, each eating each others tail. "Mix them all together, and we have a heart!" The doctor rolled over to a switch i hadn't noticed, allowing energy to flow from some kind of circuit breaker into the heart, and from the heart into the Heartless in some kind of Frankenstienish nightmare. The heartless had pulled itself up somehow, only to flop back down as the energy stopped flowing, the Heart coughing up a poof of smoke. "It failed!" I sighed in relief, somehow glad that it had failed, even though the first time i saw this I'd been disappointed to see that the experiment had failed. The doctor rolled back over to the book, looking through the ancient text. "maybe we're missing some ingredients. Let's try adding Memory." We all jumped back as the doctor opened his head, revealing his brain. It's not as creepy as it sounds really, looking back on it now, but at the time, we were all pretty shocked at eh way he prodded at it. He prodded at it for a little while, but unable to find what he was looking for. "Sally! SAllY!!" Good-for-nothing girl, i don't know why i even bothered creating her! Sally's got the Memory we need, go try and track her down" Jack nodded at Dr. Finkelstein, before turning to us. "No problem at all. Sora, Riku, Christie,. would you three like to come along?" Sora nodded, then yelped as Riku clocked him upside the head in a "friendly gesture" Jack led the way out of the lab, but i stopped just before leaving, looking at the doctor out of the corner of my eyes. "No matter what you put in that thing, it'll never work. A manufactured heart can never be the real thing, it's only doomed to fail. And anyone who tries to create one, is just a fool." I left the doctor picking his jaw up from the floor, catching up to the boys just as the Mayor ran into view, screaming. "Jack! Jack! We have a MAJOR crisis!!!! The Heartless are completely out of control! We can't stop them!" Jack tilted his head "Hmm. Maybe out experiment triggered something. Everything will be fine mayor, you have nothing to worry about. " I shook my head. "Nothing to worry about, huh? I don't think so." Jack shrugged, leading the way to the graveyard. I gotta say, that guy is better at magic then the game let on, his Gravity spells almost flattened us, and he was aiming at a Heartless halfway across the square! Said heartless left a stain of black goop across the tiles, and i had to close Sora's jaw. "Teeth go inside your mouth, not on the ground." He shook himself out of his stupor, and we raced ahead to keep up with Jack and Riku's longer strides. Oh, how i hate being short! Once we'd caught up, the graveyards gate creaked open and we walked through. Jack stopped in front of a grave depicting a dog like creature, and patted his leg. Sora yelped, falling backwards as Zero, the dog that had been buried, flew out of the grave. "Zero! Have you seen Sally anywhere?" Zero nodded as much as a handkerchief-like dog could, flying behind a taller gravestone. Sally gasped at the surprise, standing up. Just like before, she certainly did look like a patchwork doll. It wasn't at all creepy though, rather more so of a odd beauty. She walked forward, hands behind her back. "Is something wrong, Jack?" "No, every thing's going great. We're going to have the best Halloween ever. All we need now is you memory." "Memory? You mean, this?" Sally brought her hands forward, a small bunch of white flowers in her hand. Ironic. Forget-me-nots for Memory. Naminé. I shook the thought out of my head as Jack gently took them from Sally's hand, holding them up as he studied them. Sally reached out, worry flooding her features. "Jack, i have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you try something else, there's still time." Jack shook his head, a big grin crossing his face. "Nothing could beat what I've got planned! Once we give the Heartless a heart, they'll dance just as i envision it. Trust me Sally, you'll love it!" Sally shook her head, looking me in the eyes. This girl, she's wiser than she looks. "Jack, why not have these kids star in the festival instead? They all look rather frightful, and funny to. They'd be better than the Heartless." Unfortunately, Jack was out of earshot already, beckoning us to the gate. The boys were at his heals in an instant, and Sally sighed. "He never listens to me." I shrugged, walking off. "Boys are like that. You gotta make them listen sometimes." Sally looked up, and ran up the stairs after us. I heard the giggles emerging from behind us, but paid them no mind. It had to happen anyway. We met no trouble on the way back to the lab, and i stayed in the entry hall. About 5 minutes passed before the boys emerged, shaking their heads. The spring in Jack's step was dimmed a bit now, but he left the hall quickly enough. Sora was a step behind him, SO Riku walked up and explained what was going on. "It failed again. Dr. Freakenstein said to talk to the Mayor about "Surprise"." I sighed, and we both ran forward to catch up with Jack and Sora. Strangely enough, we didn't run into any Heartless in the Graveyard this time either, just like before. It all struck me as odd, but I'll take what little peace we can get. The coffin at the back of the area served as a transporter, sending us through to an area full of Gravestones. The mayor gestured Sora over, but i couldn't hear them from the distance i was away form them. I yelped in surprise as the giant pumpkin exploded near Riku's head. He blinked in surprise, shaking pieces of pumpkin out of his hair. Sora' hysterical laughter made the silver haired boy flick a particularly large piece in the Keybladers direction, squashing the pumpkins flesh in his face. I laughed as the piece slid off Sora's face leaving a pale orange trail on his face. Riku smiled, and this time it reached his eyes. Even Jack was cracking up in laughter behind us as i walked into the pumpkin, grabbing the Jack-in-the-box, shaking off the goopy remains. Jack took it form my hands, leading us back to the lab. This time, i entered behind the boys, sticking close to the entrance, and by some odd turn of events, by Riku. Dr. Finkelstein inserted the Jack-in-the-box into the heart, and sealed it up tight. "There we go, this time it's sure to work." He turned his wheel chair to face the table, rolling over to it, Heart in hand. At that moment, Barrel dived out from beneath a shelf, tripping the Doctor and sending the heart flying. DR. Finkelstein looked up, shaking a gloved fist as the Heart bounced into Lock's arms, and they ran off. I growled, taking off after them as Sally tended to the doctor. Jack, Riku and Sora were fast behind me, all panting as we lost sight of the little kids. Riku groaned. "Damn! We lost them!" Jack shook his head, patting his leg, Zero appearing at his masters Summon. "Zero, after them! Quick!" Zero nodded, taking off with us at his heels, er, tail. They led us out of the town, past the bridge that had the shortcut into town, and to the cliff overlooking the Mansion. Jack snapped his fingers, and i looked up at the top of the mansion, catching sight of the kids bathtub climbing it's way up the platforms. "I knew Oogie Boogie was behind this!" Jack led the way into the mansion, casting various Fire spells to light the Lantern Platforms to get us up to the higher levels. Once in the kid's Playroom, they turned to face us. Underneath their masks, i could feel they were all glaring at us, and they scattered. I drew my daggers from my sheathes, diving after Shock. The boys each took a different target, Jack blocking the door. It took a while, but we finally got them all sitting down. Shock up first, witches hat slightly crooked on her head. "We were just following orders! Oogie Boogie told us to steal the heart. It's all Barrels fault! It was his idea to tell Oogie Boogie about the Heart!" Lock piped up, adding his two cents "Yeah, that's right!" "But you guys said--" "You should be ashamed!" I sighed, kneeling to be at the kids level. "Look, it doesn't matter who's idea it was to tell Oogie Boogie about the Heart, what matter know is stopping him before he kills us all. Is there a way to reach him?" Shock stood up, pointing at a lever halfway across the room. "Oogie's down in the Torture Chamber in the basement, that lever unlocks the door." Sora nodded, puling on it. There was a distinctive click as the gears turned, and we walked out of the room. I stopped at a tug on my shoe, kneeling back down to Shock's level as she put a small, hexagon shaped crystal in my hand, he pale blue color shimmering int eh dim light. "Oogie threw that away, but i found it. Thanks, for not hurting us." I nodded, straightening out her hat. Once out on the platforms, i examined the crystal in torchlight. It shimmered even brighter out here, and i could make out faded symbols. An image of a shield appeared in my mind, and i smiled, tucking it into a small pocket in my shorts, walking town the platforms to the basement level. We reached the door that Shock had talked about, and jack pushed it open. The "torture Chamber" was nothing more than a glorified roulette wheel, with some shackles on the wall that Oogie was standing in front of. Thankfully, they were all empty. Jack called out. "Oogie Boogie! Give me back the heart!" "You want it? Well then, come on over and get it!" In one giant gulp, he swallowed it, much to out disgust. I could hear Sora making a gagging noise behind me, and i swallowed. "Now, lets see if i can get their attention. Oh, Heartless!" Two gargoyle Heartless appeared at his call, but nothing more. They left a second later as well. "This is it? Nobody disrespect me, NOBODY!!" Oogie stomped on a button i hadn't noticed, sending us down onto the spinning roulette wheel. I shook my head, grabbing my daggers from my sheathes and ducking around the traps, which included a Buzzsaw, various toy soldiers shooting at us. It was after a rather close call with a guillotine like blade and Riku's neck that i finally had enough, calling on the image of the shield I'd seen from the crystal earlier. "Protect!" A shield sprang in front of all of us, giving us more time and letting Sora deal the final blow, ripping once of Oogie's seams. All the bugs that acted as his stuffing fall out. I shook my head, squashing the last one and grabbing a paper that had fallen out. Another report for Aerith to translate. No Holy Circlet this time. Jack sighed, head sagging. "I guess that Heart was a Failure." Sora shrugged as Jack led the way out of the house, back into town. Unfortunately, we never made it that far. A tremor in the ground made us all struggle to keep our footing and we all turned to see Oogie's remains fuse with his house. Looks like he opened himself to Darkness after all. Sora's jaw dropped again. "Whoa! How did he get so big?!" Jack pointed up at the globes of darkness that were coating the house. "Look! It's brimming with the power of Darkness! Oogie Boogie is drawing power from those dark globes! So we just have to destroy those things, right Sora?" Sora nodded, running off the edge of the cliff, keyblade in hand. We followed after him, each heading for a different Area of the house. About ten minutes later, i ran around to the front of the house, surprised to see it was still standing. Sora and Jack ran up from the other end, equal looks of surprise on their faces. A yelp from the boy that Sora and i both knew well made us both look u, eyes widening at the sight of Riku hanging off the edge of one of the wooden walkways, Search Ghost moving ever closer to knocking him off and into a long fall. A quick thunder spell from Sora gave me time to get up to RIku's level and pull him back up, destroying the last dark globe. With the last dark globe destroyed, House-Oogie collapsed in on itself in a cloud of dust and wind, forcing us the cover our heads to avoid the glass shrapnel. A quick protect from Sora stopped that threat though, so we all stood, waving away the lingering dust. My wings twitched as i shook my head, sighing in annoyance. Of course the keyhole just HAD to be under the house we destroyed. They never make this easy do they? I blinked in surprise, but shrugged to myself as Sora sealed the Keyhole, bouncing the beam off of he full moon above us in order to seal the large keyhole. With that final errand taken care of, we returned to Dr. Finkelstiens lab. Jack stepped forward, taking Sally's hands into his one. "Sally, why didn't i listen to you?" "Don't feel bad Jack. We'll come up with another plan for Halloween, and we'll do it together." Jac nodded, looking at us. "I guess i have no choice. For now, the Heartless Halloween festival is cancelled. Next Halloween will be the scariest ever!" I smiled, covering a laugh with my hands as we exited the lab. I stopped mid-step as Dr. Finkelstein turned his wheelchair. "Christina, you were right after all. I was a fool, and i'm sorry." I nodded, still walking out of the lap. "Apology accepted!" Riku chuckled as the lab door shut in the doctors face, throwing his arm around my shoulder. Sora smiled, speeding his pace slightly before we came to the town gate, where our paths would split once again. I caught Sora in a one armed hug, drawing him into Riku's noogie trap, his mask nearly falling off with the endearing movemet, the younger boy struggling out of my hold as he redid his spikes. I chuckled, stopping as Riku drew me close, nose buried in my hair. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but the words wouldn't form. He sighed, holding me at arms length. I could hear Sora's footsteps trail away as he gave us some room, but paid little attention. "I want you to go with Sora." I gasped in surprse, eyes widening. He cut me off before i could speak, and i bit my lip. "Maleficents going to give us crap about this, and she dosen't trsut you. I don't want to get you hurt." "But she'll hurt you to Ri, i don't wanna lose you agin!" He shook his head, letting me slip out from his grasp. "I can handle it, i'm her favorite after all." I but my lip as i looked at the ground, fists clenching. I could hear him sigh, and i looked up, eyes slightly watery as he caught my chin with his fingers, making our eyes meet. "I realize this may be taking advantage of you, but....." My eyes widened in surprise as our lips met, and i leaned into him, returning the kiss. Everyhing i'd wanted to tell him, and everything he's wanted to tell me, was said in that moment. Neither of us wanted to seperate, but we needed to breath. With a smile that reached his eyes, he squeezed my hand tightly. "I'll see you soon." I nodded, slipping a small crystal into his hand. "The Protect spell that Shock gave me, you're going to need it." He nodded, tucking it into his pocket as he walked off into the portal. I licked my lower lip, words tumbling out before I could stop them, not that I'd wanted to. "Riku." "Hm?" "I love you" He smiled, halfway through the portal. "I love you to Christie, remember that." I waited until teh portal had closed and i lost sight of him before I rejoined Sora on the Infinity. I can only hope, that when I see Riku again, nothing will have gone wrong. ----- Enjoy!
Kairi 2011: She rolled her eyes at Infinity, that text should have been underlined, which means Infinity's AI was speaking. She shoved Sora off because he was on top of her, shaking her shoulders to wake her up. Sora may be light, but 100+ pounds of Keyblader still hurt, especially after a concussion. Everyone: Since KH-Vids.net suffered from downtime recently, now that it's back for now, i come bearing the link to it's home : http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3340413/1/Kingdom_Of_Memories Go there for the latest updates, but you'll still have to bear with me. I'm sorry im taking so long, Halloween Town was never my favorite world, but it's an important plot point for KoM.
Kairi2011: Mean to Sora? I'm not sure what you mean. She's trying to protect him, the only way she knows how. Kairi1995: First paragraph of Halloween Town is finished, i'm haivng some real trouble with it. Everyone else: Thank you for your comments, it's much appreciated. I'll update as soon as i can, but bear with me. Would you prefer a chapter thats good but takes longer to complete, or would you prefer a chapter that stinks but is written up in an hour. (Like my first draft was)
Thanks for the comments everyone. TAF: Thanks for the con crit, it's well respected. The thing is, that's how i write. I forget to capitilize my "I"'s, i've never read a thesuarus in my LIFE, and i'm a romantic at heart, so i over complicate things. Also, take that Ad somewhere else, it's the only part of your comment that's not welcome here, and never will be.
Not for a while now. I still have to type it up, and theres been some problmes around here. Just be patient, i'll update as soon as i can. ANd thanks for the compliment KHCrazy! It'e very much appreciated.
I come bringing updates! Disclaimer: I own Christie, The Infinity, The Crest Lock System, and The Koukennin no Ariake. Everything else is Square/Disney. ---- I sighed as i leaned against the wall, waiting for Maleficent to stop chewing Riku out. I raised a hand to my head, feeling the bandage around the bruise from Infinity's console. It's strange really, how things turned out. ----- Riku paced the hall outside of the impromptu Medical Wing of the castle. Ursula had dragged Christie off the second they stepped through the portal back into Hollow Bastion, screeching about how she was not supposed to be hurt. He shook his head, only to blink in surprise as Christie landed face first on the ground in front to him, a white bandage wrapped around her head, ponytail considerably messed up. Ursula stepped into his vision as Christie pushed herself up, face livid. "And stay out of my Medical wing!" The girl in front of him winced as the sea witch slammed the heavy wooden doors in their face before she turned to face him "Well, that worked" ---- I pushed off the wall as Riku stepped out of the Castle Chapel, rubbing his ears as he dragged me off out of the castle into Rising Falls. Once we were there, he sighed, sitting down. "Maleficent's pissed, isn't she?" He nodded as i sat, pulling my legs up to my knees. "She said that we have to accompany Ursula to her world to make up for bringing you here without her permission. And don't even say you'll leave. You'll just get hurt again." I rolled my eyes, but nodded. We sat there together in the comfortable silence for some time before Riku stood, brushing off his pants before he pulled me up. "We'd better go before Ursula gets upset." I nodded, following Riku through the castle to where the Sea witch and Maleficent were waiting. Ursula snorted, making her way through the portal as Maleficent looked at us. "Ursula's world is different than the ones you've been to. Be alert." Riku nodded as i veiled my surprise, before she pushed us both into the portal. I knew we were heading to Atlantica, but for the change to feel so, painful, that was unexpected. Now i knew why Ursula hadn't taken on a human form while in Hollow Bastion, changing back would have taken to much of her magic. Riku and I came through the portal, only to sink, neither ready for the experience a tail gives in place of legs. Ursula scoffed as i scrambled for hold on the rock wall behind us. "You children explore around, get used to those forms. Just don't get in my way." I glared as the woman swam out of the glade we had ended up in, leaving Riku and I to learn how to swim on our own. I pushed off the wall, testing my new tail as Riku tried to detangle himself from the kelp bed he had been shot into. I chuckled, managing to swim over to him and pull him loose. He smiled, doing some flips and twirls to gain experience in the water as i followed him with my eyes, wincing as he collided tail first into the wall. He slid down to the sea floor, ad i floated above him, noting that his shirt was gone, and he had an Orca's tail. He smiled sheepishly as i pulled him off the sand, smiling. "I think we've got this down right, let's go "explore" as Ursula put it." I nodded, but grabbed his arm before he exited the glade. "Problem. We don't have our weapons, and there's bound to be heartless here." His eyes widened, but then he smiled. Soul Eater appeared in his hands, my dagger sheaths hanging off the weapon. "I stole these back from Maleficent. Figured you'd feel kinda empty without them." I smiled, throwing my arms around his neck. "Thanks." He nodded, fiddling with the cloth of my tank top before i pulled back, my black tail scattering the fish that had swum into the glade as i reattached my sheathes, happy to see that Soul's Desire was still inside the leather holsters. I took the lead, swimming out of the glade towards where Sora had ended up, grabbing at Riku's arm to keep him from hightailing it out of sight. "Riku! Christie!" Sora swam over to us, obviously still getting used to his tail. I smiled, and Riku looked at his tail. "You're both ok?" I nodded, and trusting Riku not to swim away, let go of his arm to cuff Sora around the ears. "You think we wouldn't be?" It was then that Riku piped up, apparently noticing how quiet it had gotten. "Sora, where are your new friends?" Sora turned to face Riku, surprised, before he smiled. "They stayed on the ship to take care of Kairi. I wanted to stay, but Donald kinda pushed me off." I sighed, opening my mouth to tell off the younger boy, only to get cut off by Ariel's scream. Sora gasped in surprise, and shot out of the grotto into the open waters with Riku and I on his tail. I yelped in surprise as a red and green blur shot past us, barely able to duck in time to avoid another concussion. Sora took off after the blur i knew as Ariel, and i shook my head as the Sea Neon's stormed the tunnel Riku and I floated in. He called Soul Eater, and i grabbed my daggers. We quickly destroyed the Heartless, and as the last one dissipated, i followed the heart as it floated up and through the stone. Each of those hearts had been stolen from someone. Maybe a parent, a sibling, a lover. I would never know. I sighed, resheathing my daggers as we swam back into the grotto, where Sora introduced us to Ariel, the girl obviously calmed down. "Guys, this is Ariel." I smiled, shaking her hand as Riku nodded. "It's nice to meet you Ariel." She smiled. "Thank you for saving me from those creatures. They appeared out of nowhere, and i couldn't fight them off." I frowned. Ursula was taking this a little to far. Ariel's head shot up, eyes wide in surprise. "Oh no! Daddy!" I quickly dodged out of the way as she swam for the tunnel, before she turned around. "I'm going to ask you for your help again. I need to make sure my fathers alright, but i can't fight off all those creatures on my own." Sora smiled. "We'd be glad to help, right guys?" I nodded, and Riku shrugged as Ariel smiled brightly. "Thank you. If we follow these trident marks, we won't get lost. They lead all the way back to the palace. Let's go." We followed Ariel back to the place, often dodging around the Heartless that got in our way, as they would have overwhelmed us to quickly if we chose to fight them. Once we reached the city, Sora and Riku were sporting various bleeding scratches, and i had exhausted my Mana from casting so many thunder spells. I scrambled to grab the boys hands as Ariel hurried us into the palace, pushing the boys and i ahead of the heartless before swimming ahead. We barely stayed ahead of the Heartless through the entry tunnel, before we literally sunk in despair. Triton wasn't at the Throne Room. I bit my lip as i withdrew my daggers from their sheathes, backing into Sora as the Heartless corralled the four of us into a small area at the center of the Throne Room. I shook my head, growling under my breath as Ariel looked around, before her head sagged. "I'm so sorry everyone. I never should have-" Riku clamped a hand over her mouth, aqua eyes narrowed as Soul Eater disappeared in a dark flash. "Listen Princess, we would have tangled with the Heartless eventually anyway, so quit playing the blame game and give us a hand!" With that said, Soul Eater returned to his hand as he charged the heartless, only to have Sora catch him as he got thrown back by the sole Aqua tank in the room, shaking his head as Sora pulled him up. I swallowed thickly. There was nowhere to go. But then again, we didn't really have to go anywhere. "ARIEL!" We all looked up as Triton literally roared in anger at the heartless, his trident quickly destroying the dark creatures. I sighed in relief as the Sea King swam up, concern for his daughter in his eyes. "Ariel, are you all right?" As the red head nodded, i returned my daggers to their sheathes as the boys swam up beside me. Triton smiled at Ariel, before he frowned at us. "And just who are you three? You certainly don't look familiar." I grimaced slightly, rubbing my neck as Riku came to our rescue. "We're from very far up north, we came to make sure those creatures hadn't wiped out another city." I looked at Riku, surprised he was being so revealing. Triton's eyes narrowed at the sight of my black tail, and i shrunk back as Riku swam in front of me, aqua eyes glaring at the Mer-King. "I thank you all for saving my daughter, but those with black tails are not welcome in my kingdom. Please, leave." Sora opened his mouth to protest, but Ariel beat him to it. "Daddy! Just because her tail is black doesn't mean she'll-" Triton's cut her off at this point, roaring in anger. "Ariel that's enough! I will not tolerate that girl in my palace!" I winced, but shook my head as Riku clenched his fist, putting my hand on his arm before i swam out of the palace, grateful for the speed my tail gave me. I knew where Ariel's grotto was, i might as well wait there. ----- Riku glared at the sea king, snarling as Christie disappeared out of the palace before Triton sighed in relief. "That was to close. The last time a black tailed was here, those creatures killed my wife. I will not have another in my palace." Sora shook his head in obvious disgust at the Sea King as Riku tried to swim out after Christie, only to have Triton block his passage. "You will not go after her, she's a monster." Aqua eyes narrowed in anger as Riku ducked under the trident before swimming out, throwing a barbed insult at the Sea king as he left the palace. "The only monster here, is you." ---- I sighed as i dove through the shadows, dodging around the heartless as i made my way into the Grotto. Once inside, i sighed as i sank into the soft sand below, leaning against the chilled stone wall as i pulled my tail to my chest. Triton may have had his reasons, but it still hurt. I looked up as i heard the stone blocking the entrance come open to allow Riku in. I sighed, throwing small pebble to get his attention. He smiled sadly as he swam over to sit beside me, throwing an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into the embrace, just basking in the comfort he brought. It's funny really, two years ago, I'd always dreamed something like this would happen, but never like this. I never dreamed i would be fighting alongside them. I can only hope, that when all this is over, everything turns out the way it's supposed to. We broke apart, cheeks flushed red when Sora and Ariel entered the grotto, both surprised to see us. Ariel shook off her surprise as we swam up to meet them, twirling around in the salt water. "Look at all these wonderful things Flounder and I've collected. I think it's all from the outside world. Someday, I'm going to see whats up there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange to you?" Sora shook his head, smiling. "No. Not at all. We used to feel the same way." Ariel tilted her head in confusion as she drifted back down into view from the sunlight at the top of the grotto. "Used to?" "I mean.... we still do." I punched Sora lightly in the shoulder as Ariel smiled.. "Hey, why don't we try looking for that Keyhole you told me about?" "But your father said-" Ariel huffed, lower lip disappearing. Tail or no, she's still a teenager. "Oh, he treats me like a little girl. He never wants to let me do anything. He just, he just doesn't understand." I flicked my tail, gently tipping over the globe in which Sebastian was hiding in over, effectively trapping the crab. He wasn't going to rat us out this time. Riku tilted his head as Ariel grabbed Sora's hand, pulling him out of the grotto with us behind them. We made our way into the large open area where the baby dolphin was swimming around, only to be besieged by heartless. I growled, daggers flying through the water as we made quick work of the Sea Neon's. Once the heartless were gone, the small creature poked it's head out from beneath one of the reefs, only to chatter happily as it swam between us. I smiled. "I guess this things hates Heartless as much as we do." Ariel tilted her head in thought, then snapped her fingers. "I've got an idea. If we hold on to this dolphin, he'll be able to take us to the sunken ship. Maybe the keyhole's there?" Sora shrugged. "Maybe, it's worth checking out at least." Ariel whistled to the dolphin, and we grabbed hold of it's fin. It swam rather quickly, obviously grateful for the lack of heartless. Once we reached the tunnel with the current, the dolphin calf slowed down slightly, but a whisper from Ariel got it to speed up enough to fight the current. It dumped us off at the tunnel leading to the sunken ship, and we swam through. Ariel smiled, shooting off through on the portholes into the ship as the rest of us squeezed through after her. We turned that place upside down, all the while i grew more frustrated because i knew the keyhole wasn't there. I rolled my eyes, diving down into the wrecked hull, calling out to the others while i opened the chest that held the Crystal Trident. Ariel's jaw dropped. "Christie, where did you find this?" I gestured to the chest, eyes narrowing as i spotted the shark just outside the ship, obviously circling for a way in. Ariel gently took it from my hands, blue eyes filled with longing. "This will fit the indentation in my grotto perfectly. Let's get back." I nodded, swimming out after the redhead with the boys behind me. I turned when i noticed Riku lagging behind, the silver-haired boy looking around with Soul Eater in hand. Sora stopped when i did, calling out to Riku. "Riku, come on! Let's get outta here!" Riku raised a clenched fist, telling the younger boy to keep quiet. Sora raised a brow, opening his mouth to call out at the elder boy, but i put a hand over his mouth as Ariel swam up to us, the Crystal Trident cradled in her arms. "Guys, we really should be going. A shark guards this wreck, and it's not very happy i came back" Sora and I looked at the girl, jaws dropping. I made a disgusted noise, leaving Sora to process what Ariel had just said while i swam over to Riku. He was still looking around when i dragged him off. My timing couldn't have been better, because the second he was out of range, the Shark's jaws chomped down on where he had been. Sora swam in front of Ariel, herding her out of the area as Riku and i exchanged blows with the shark. The thing kept flailing around, and as i dove around the back to attack it's tail, it lashed out at Riku, sharp fangs scratching his back. He cried out in pain, and i snapped, daggers flying through the water, the strings cutting the shark deeper than the blades. It's stamina depleted, the shark swam away. I quickly swam to RIku's side, a Cure spell on my fingertips to heal his back. The spell stopped the bleeding and closed the wound, but it left a rather large scar. I sighed, Cura was going to be necessary at this rate. Riku nodded his thanks as i resheathed my daggers, and we both swam out. We met up with Sora and Ariel outside the grotto, and Sora winced at the scar. I rolled my eyes and shoved him inside, noting that the globe where i had trapped Sebastian had been moved, the crab had gotten out. Ariel swam in front of the indentation, the Crystal Trident floating before the sound of the stone moving made all of us turn around to face a livid King Triton. "Ariel you've disappointed me again! I told you not to leave the Palace!" He raised his trident, magical energy gathering in the weapons prongs. Ariel tried to stop him. "Daddy, no!" Triton paid no heed to his youngest daughter, the magical bolt of energy destroying the Crystal. Ariel turned, obviously feeling betrayed. "How could you--" She swam out of the grotto, and i tried to go after her, but Triton pushed me back, looking at Sora. "Young man, you're not from another ocean. You're from another world aren't you? Then you must be the Key bearer and his guardians." Sora looked surprised at the fact Triton had hit the proverbial nail on the head. "How did you know?" "You maybe able to fool Ariel, but you CANNOT fool me. None of you know your dorsal fins from your tails. As the key bearer Sora, you must already know. One must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds." "Of course we know that, but...." Triton shook his head, cutting the boy of mid sentence "You have violated this principle. The key bearers shatter peace, and bring ruin to all worlds they know." I swam forward, throwing an arm in front of Sora. "Sora isn't like that at all! If you'd just listen---" Triton's sea blue eyes narrowed, and i reeled back. "Once again, i thank you for saving my daughter. But there is no room in my ocean for you or your key!" With that said, he swan out of the grotto, leaving us amongst the shattered pieces of Ariels treasure. I dropped my arm back to my side as Sora sank to the ground. "Shatter peace and brings ruin to all worlds. Then it's my fault the Islands are gone...." Riku huffed, then smacked Sora upside the head. Sora yelped in pain, sky blue eyes meeting Riku's sea green. "If it's anybody's fault Sora, it's not yours!" I pulled Sora up off the sand, gesturing out of the Grotto. "Let's go talk to Triton. I've got a bone to pick with him anyway." Sora nodded, and we all swam out into the open waters. The lack of heartless was what tipped me off to trouble first, the second was Ariel's scream. We all jumped, and then shot off towards the Palace. Upon entry, we noted that Ursula was there, and looking very pissed. "Why, we have company. I'm afraid you're a little late kids." In a flash of smelly ink, the sea witch disappeared, trident in hand. I growled in disgust as the ink dispersed around the throne room, turning the water a pale shade of black. Ariel raced to Triton's side, putting a hand on his arm. "Daddy!" "The trident, we must get it back." Sora took one look at us, before he nodded. "Come one, let's go." Ariel must have heard him, because she immediately dove in front of us, blue eyes full of determination. "Wait, i'm going with you. My father is hurt, and this all my fault. I have to stop Ursula" I nodded at the girl as Sebastian swam up to us. "That's right. I'm right behind you Ariel!" As we prepared to swim out of the throne room, i stopped, feeling Triton's gaze on my back. Riku's lip curled upwards until Sora dragged him out, obviously understanding that the Sea King wanted to speak to me alone. I swam up into hearing range, and he looked down. "My wife once told me about the Koukennin no Ariake, the Gaurdian of Dawn. She said that the Gaurdian would help tp protect our world. I do not know if you are this guardian, but since you are going to face Ursula, know that she draws power from her cauldron, in order to defeat her, strike it with magic. Take these with you." His large hand clasped over my smaller one as he handed me a pouch full of bottle filled wth blue liquid, Ethers. I nodded, turning just before i left the chamber. "My name is Christie." Once outside the chamber, i split the ethers up evenly between us, explaining what Triton had said to me. With that said, We took off swimming towards the main area of Atlantica, the boys on my heels as Ariel led the way to the sunken ship again. After an eventful fight with the shark- eventful meaning that Sora went crazy on it- we started poking around for a trigger or switch. We'd been poking around for a half hour at best before the sound of stone scraping against stone made us turn in surprise, weapons appearing in hand. Sebastian had triggered the switch, and swam back into view as we returned out weapons to where they belonged, and I took the lead through the plant-creature filled tunnel. Ariel started to look a little green at the sheer number of creatures moaning, but she swallowed her rising panic and swam beside Sora. We came out of the tunnel in Ursula cave, and Riku swam forward, Soul Eater in hand. "Come out Ursula, you've got nowhere left to run!" At the sound of a large amount of water bieng disturned, i removed my daggers from thier sheathes, glaring as Ursula made her mad appearence, glaring at the two of us. "When Maleficent hears about this, niether of you two will ever see the light of day again!" Flotsom and Jetsem appeared at her side, the eels quickly wriggling and darting arounf the arena like area, to fast for Sora or I to catch. Ariel swam up beside the brunnete boy, and he nodded to something she said, and both she and Riku starting tagreting the eels. I swam into a small alcove, ready with my ethers and magic incantations for Ursula's cualdron. The battle went surprisingly well, and it didn't take nearly as long as i thought it would. Flotsam and Jetswm drifted up to the surface of the chamber, hitting the cieling, unmoving. Ursula's face contorted in rage as she swam up to them, grabbing thier limp forms. She glared at us, and i heard Sebastian whimper "You'll pay for this!" She disappeared into the shell tunnel she had come out of, and Ariel went up to it, gentle hand pounding on the debris that blocking it. I swam up to the redhead, shaking my head. She nodded, turning to the boys with a small shell shaped crystal in hand. "This will allow us to swim after her against the current. We need the get the trident back." We swam out of the chamber, dodging heartless on the way back to the current tunnel. Once thier, we "Mermaid Kicked" into a large open glade of sea water. Ursula swam in the center, trident in hand and golden crown on her head. She glared at us, and released spews of ink from her body as she grew larger. We swam up to avoid the ink, weapons in hand as her voice echoed in the water. "You pathetic fools! I rule the seas now! The Sea and all it's spoils bow to my power!" I shoved Sora and Riku aside, swimming under her open mouth and around to the back of her neck, Soul's desire flying at her. Ariel was quick to give me a hand while the boys kept her attention elsewhere, so we had little trouble until halfway through the fight when she turned around, trident raised. "You will all perish here!" We all raced to get out of range, barely managing to so so before the trident's energy beams rained down where we had been. I pushed the boys to the back of her neck while Ariel and i kept her busy this time, and we finished her off quickly. In a flash of light, she clutched at her neck, making a choking sound as the trident returned to normal size, Ariel snatching it up and leading us back to the throne room where Triton was nervously swimming across the room, torso bandaged with kelp. Upon Ariels entrance to the throne room, he smiled in relief. "Daddy, i'm so sorry." "Please don't be angry with her your Majesty." Triton looked at his youngest daughter, face covered in sadness. "It's my fault. You went to Ursula becuase..... I wouldn't let you follow your heart. And when you all found the crystal, i lost my temper and destroyed it." Sora looked up, surprised at the mention of the crystal. "Oh yeah! The Crystal, why did you destryo it?" "That crystal held the power to reveal the Keyhole. I had to keep it hidden away at all cost. Key bearer, i have one last request: Seal the keyhole. My trident also hold the power to reveal it. Will you do it?" Sora nodded, a smile on his face. "Of course. That's what we had in mind from the start." Ariel turned to Triton, grateful he was accpeting us. "Where is the keyhole Daddy?" "You should know better than anyone else. It's in your grotto." Riku blinked in surprise, turning to Sora. "Really? Sora, let's go." Ariel swam out of the throne room, holding the trident close as Sora and Riku swam out after her. Triton held me back a moment, before i turned to face him. "Christina, i'm afraid i've misjusged you from the beginning. I thought you were an evil creature, when all you have in your heart is a want to protect your love. It's the will of the Night to protect the Dawn, and your will is strong. Use these to defend him well. And Christina, i'm sorry." I nodded, my cheeks tinted slightly red as i accepted the two blue shell shaped crystals and dolphin shaped shells. With Tritpo watching me, i swam out of the throne room to meet up with Riku just outside of the palace. We swam to Ariel's Grotto, where Ariel was placing the trident in the indentation. In a flash of light, the keyhole was revealed. Sora quickly sealed it, and Ariel placed the Trident on the ground, turning to face the keyblader. "Tell me Sora, your world, what's it like? "Oh, about that.... Sorry for lying to you." "It's ok. Besides, if you all can travel to other worlds, maybe i can too. So many places i want to see. I know i'll get there, someday, I'm sure of it." Ariel swam down to Sora's level, a blue charm in ahnd. "This is from my collection, i want you to have it." We smiled at the sea princess, waving goodbye as she swam back to the palace, trident in hand. One we returned to the split tunnel that would lead us back to our respective exit points, Sora stopped, his back to us. "You guys, can't come with me, right?" Our silence must have answered for him, becuase he turned to face us, blue eyes sad. "Since i can't go with you either, promise me we'll see each other again." He extending his hand to us, palm down. I smiled as Riku placed his gloved hand on top of Sora's, and i placed mine on top of his. "It's a promise Sora." The spiky haired brunnete smiled, and swam off towards the transport beacon as Riku and I swam off towards the Dark Portal. It was open my the time we got there, and i sighed, turning to Riku. "Let's go." ---- And we're done! Atlantica is finished, there was more RikuxChristie fluff, and Maleficent's going to be mad! Please Comment, it's very much appreaciated~!
I come bringing an Update! Sorry it took awhile, family crisis and all. Please, enjoy! Disclaimer: Kingdom Heart's belongs to Disney and SquareEnix. Christie, the Infinity and The Crest Lock system belong to me. ----- CHAPTER 11, INSIDE THE BELLY OF A WHALE, MEMORIES OF HOME. ---- Christie sighed as she turned the page in her book, wincing as thunder rumbled loudly outside Riku's home. "Don't like thunderstorms Chris?" Christie looked at the newly 15 year old boy - his birthday had been yesterday- and nodded. "Yeah. I've always liked the rain, but thunder, i don't like." Riku smirked, making the girl smile. "Well, I'll keep you safe. If you ever get scared of anything, just think of me, and you'll be safe." Christie blushed, but nodded. "Thanks Riku." "Don't worry about it." ----- I woke up to Sora's concerned face above mine. "Christie! Christie, wake up!" I groaned, pushing him off of me while i held my head. "I'm up, I'm up." I shook the cobwebs from my head, pinching the bridge of my nose while I waited for my vision to clear. "Thank goodness. When you hit your head, I was worried you wouldn't wake up again" I rolled my eyes as I pulled myself up onto a chair, sighing. "It's just a concussion, I've had worse before, Infinity." Sora sighed in relief, walking to the back to speak with Donald and Goofy. "He was worried about you." "I know, Sora's like that, a worrywart. Alright, give me a damage report Infinity." "We've lost six wing gummi's on our starboard side, but it won't take the Auto-Regens long to repair them. As for the whale, my thruster flames burned his tongue rather well." I smiled at the pride in Infinity's tone as I stood, swatting away Sora when he came to help me before climbing down the hatch to stand on Monstro's burned tongue. "Come on, we might as well see where we ended up, beyond the fact we are in a WHALE. We'll be back soon Infinity. Let's go boys." I jumped up to the wooden platforms above my head, climbing over them with little trouble as Sora followed. Donald and Goofy couldn't follow the way we went, so they had to take the shorter route, through the fish filled water. I shuddered at the thought, jumping to a lower platform, only to yelp in alarm as it caved out underneath me, sending me tumbling into the not so shallow waters. I swam to the surface, sputtering slightly as I heard Sora laugh. I ducked under the water, grateful that Riku had taught me how to swim. --- I kicked my legs in the air, sitting on the dock as I watched Sora and Kairi laughing in the water. I jumped as someone flopped down on the docks beside me. "Aren't you going to join us, Chris?" I looked at Riku's heaving form, smirking as I cuffed him around the ears. "I already told you, i don't swim, I sink." He stood, jumping down into the water below the dock, extending a hand. "In that case, I'd better teach you." ---- I could hear Sora's voice from under the murky water, surfacing quietly to pull on his leg, knocking him down into the water. "Christie!" I giggled as he spit out the fishy water, swimming over to Gepetto's boat with me behind him as I wrung out my ponytail. I smile as I saw Pinocchio handing a green gummi to Gepetto, then the puppet boy pointed to us. "Their the ones Father, their the ones who came out the ship that burnt Monstro!" Gepetto turned to us, a smile in his old eyes. "Why hello there. I do have to thank you, had Monstro not swallowed your ship, Pinocchio would have been badly hurt." I smiled slightly, rubbing the large bruise on the side on my head. "You're welcome, but we didn't really do anything. Just in the right place at the right time i guess, huh Christie?" I nodded to Sora as Gepetto smiled. I saw Pinocchio sneak off the ship out of the corner of my eyes, and gently followed him across into Monstro's intestines. "Pinocchio! It's not safe in here, your Dad's going to get worried about you!" The puppet boy stopped, turning to face me. "I know, but it's my fault Father and I are stuck in here, If I hadn't ran away from home, none of this would have happened." I shook my head, kneeling down to look him in the eye. "Pinocchio, even if it was your fault, your father loves you." I smiled gently at the puppet boy, and he smiled back as I stood, taking his hand as I closed my eyes to clear the blurring in my vision. "Let's get back." Pinocchio nodded, and we started walking out of the chamber, only to get blocked by three NeoShadows. I snarled, pushing Pinocchio behind me as I drew a dagger from my sheathes, the other hand keeping Pinocchio close. "Need some help Christie?" I gasped in surprise as the NeoShadows disappeared in flashes of black smoke, only to smile slightly as Riku swung Soul Eater over his shoulder, turning to face me, smirking. "Thought you might be here." I rolled my eyes, resheathing my dagger as Pinocchio peeked out from behind me as Riku walked over. I hadn't realized it then, but Pinocchio must have sensed Xehanort in Riku, because he ran deeper into Monstro's guts without me noticing. Riku's gloved fingers pushed some of my messy ponytail back behind my ear, a frown on his face as I winced, his fingers had danced over the large bruise on my head. "When did this happen?" "Monstro banged Infinity around a bit, i played pinball with my head." I shook my head to clear the blurring from the edges of my vision, pinching the bridge of my nose as I looked down to where Pinocchio had been standing, only to have my jaw drop in surprise as I saw he was gone. "That stupid puppet......!" I shrugged out from beneath Riku's hand, running deeper into Monstro, with the elder boy's footsteps dogging mine. "Chris! Why are you chasing after a puppet?" I skidded to a stop, making Riku fall over to avoid crashing into me, as I turned glaring at him. "That puppet is very important to someone! He's a person, not a wooden boy." I sighed, closing my eyes as I extended a hand to the boy. "Look, I'm not going to let that puppet stay here, running around all willy-nilly. If it's not safe for us, both of whom know how to defend ourselves, it's certainly not safe for a puppet with no defensive skills at all." I pulled him up, and took of running deeper into Monstro's intestines, the chambers blurring together to form a pathway of types in my memory. ------ Thirteen year old Christie groaned as she flopped back onto her bed. She had been running Sora around Monstro's guts for so long, she was really getting frustrating. She sat up, looking at her bookshelf, the brand new Kingdom Hearts Strategy guides unworn spine glaring at her. 'Just for this' She stood, pulling the book of the shelf and turning it onto the pages that detailed Monstro. "Let's see, first comes up Chamber 1.... ---- I guess my subconscious had led both Riku and I through the chambers, because we found Pinocchio siting on lumpy mound of flesh in Chamber 4, wooden legs swinging as I bent over, catching my breath as Pinocchio stifled his giggles. I smiled, only to have that smile turn into a frown as the young boy ran off into Monstro's throat. "Can't he hold still?!" I chased after him, hearing Sora talking with Riku as Pinocchio stopped running, smiling brightly. I smiled back, gesturing for him to follow me. He nodded, and I turned to walk out of the throat before the Parasite cage arrived, but I'm never that lucky. I turned when I felt the creatures presence, but it managed to grab Pinocchio before he could run. I snarled, unsheathing both of my daggers as the boys ran in, drawn to the sound of Pinocchio's scream. Sora's eyes widened, and he grabbed the Keyblade from his waistband as Soul Eater reappeared in Riku's clenched fist. "You two up for this?" I nodded, as Sora verbally responded while I jumped off, tuning out the battle sounds as i remember something Nii-san had told me during a night we had spent at Traverse Town --- "Nee-chan, forget about everything but the battle your in. Keep your ears open at all times, your hearing is one of your best resources" --- Sora hung back, letting off Fira spells as i moved to the rear of the creature, using my "magic strings" to send my daggers flying to the front of Parasite Cage while Riku danced around, getting in various hits on both the head and stomach of the creature. I don't know how long we were pounding on that thing, but it finally used it's tentacle like arms to pull itself up onto the ceiling, releasing Pinocchio, sending the boy falling into the mouth as Riku jumped after him. I rolled my eyes as I returned my daggers to their sheathes, jumping after him to land on Geppetto's boat. "Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please, give me back my son!" "Sorry old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet." "He's no puppet, he's my little boy!" "He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not really sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs." Sora looked up at the boy standing above us both. "Wait a sec Riku, are you talking about Kairi?!" "What do you care about her? If all your doing is running around, showing that keyblade off, do you even care that she's lost her heart?" I glared, stepping in front of Sora. "Of course he cares! If Sora didn't care about Kairi or you, we wouldn't be here. Riku, I don't know whats gotten into your head, but I'm worried about you! Come on, we'll save Kairi together!" "Sorry Chris, i have to do this for someone I care about." He ran off after saying that, and my face fell. "Someone he cares about....." I swallowed, getting shaken out of my stupor as Sora handed me a small crystal. "Geppetto said these allow us to jump higher. I think we're going to need it to get up after Riku" I nodded, following Sora up the wooden platforms into Monstro's throat. Once in said room, I dodged around the Rare Truffles. The harmless creatures kept wandering around, but since they didn't attack us, we left them alone. I shook my head as my vision blurred once again, a massive headache springing out of nowhere, forcing me to lean against Monstro's fleshy walls. Sora put a hand on my shoulder, worry in his face. I shook him off. "I'm ok, just a headache." He nodded hesitantly as I jumped up to a higher platform. Somehow, an air current at the top blew us into Monstro's stomach. 'Would explain why the old whale keeps getting so upset, all this acid can't be good for his mood.' I blinked in surprise, where had that come from? I shook it off, grabbing my daggers from their sheathes as we reached Riku and Pinocchio. "Hey, let Pinocchio go Riku." Riku turned to look at us, and i stepped back slightly as his eyes flashed orange. "A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless. Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi." He shook his head, turning to face us. "But right now, it can't help her. I'm offering you a deal Sora. Kairi and this puppet can go with you, if Christie comes with me." Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "What!?" "You'd rather have to fight me to get this puppet back, and leave Kairi with the Heartless, than hand over Christie? Your dumber than I thought Sora." I resheathed my daggers, putting a hand on Sora's arm as I looked at Riku. "You've got a deal. Bring Kairi here first, and i'll go with you." Riku smiled. "I'll be back in five minutes. Don't go anywhere." Having said that, he backed into an open dark portal, leaving Sora and I alone as Jiminy jumped down, running towards Pinocchio. "Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" "Jiminy..... I'm not gonna make it." In a small flash of light, Pinocchio's nose grew slightly, a sure sign that he was lying. The young boy's head shot up, brown eyes open wide and a smile on his face. "Oh! I guess i'm ok!" I smiled, turning to face the dark portal that opened. Riku stepped throug, the unconcious Kairi in his arms. Sora ran forward, gently taking her from the elder boy as Goofy ran Pinocchio back to Geppeto. "You've got Kairi and the puppet. Christie, let's go." Sora loked at me as I nodded, and I looked at him, my hazel eyes meeting his blue. "It's ok Sora. Head back to Traverse Town, tell Nii-san I'm ok." He nodded, standing up and walking out of the chamber with Donald in front of him. But before he could leave, Riku turned to face him, calling out to the younger boy. "Sora. For what it's worth, I'm sorry about this." Sora shook his head smiling, then walked out of our sight. I sighed, smiling at Riku as I walked into the portal he had opened. "Shall we, milady Christie?" "We shall milord Riku. I'm just glad i'm not scared of the dark." ---- And we're done! Please, comment with what you thought of this, am PM me with any questions. Until next time, ~SH
Even though i don't know you personally Deathspank, i wanted to wish you the best. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Thanks Orion. I figured it would drop into oblivion. (smacks her head) Get out of my head you crazy writers block! Anywho, thanks for the comment.
My apologies for bumping this up Moderators. Here we go, the second part of Chapter 10 Disclaimer : Christie and the Infinity belong to me, KH is a jointly owned franchise, to whom the rights belong to Square Enix and Disney. ---- Riku blinked away the sand from his eyes, pulling his shirt up to cover his mouth. The sand was blowing around like the waves back home during a storm, and it was getting into places he'd rather not have it in, so he ducked into the Cave of Wonders to escape the storm, sitting to wait for the storm to blow over. Jafar would bring the princess here, and he would take the princess to Maleficent. Then he would take Christie to safety. ---- I smiled as Genie wheeled through the air, obviously enjoying the fresh air. "Ah, fresh air! The great outdoors! "I guess you don't get out much huh?" Genie shook his head, hovering next to the carpet as we flew along. "Comes with the job. Phenomenal cosmic powers, Itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes, then right back into my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day and smell fresh air every century or two." Aladdin urged to carpet on faster, the turned to Genie. "Say Genie, what if i use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?" Genies eyes bugged out "You'd actually do that?!" Aladdin nodded, smiling widely at the spirit. "Genie, it's a promise. After we help Jasmine." During the conversation, the Carpet has arrived at Aladdin's house. We jumped off as the carpet flew away. "So, Jafar is after Jasmine and this 'Keyhole'." "Keyhole eh? I could have sworn I've heard about that somewhere before....." "Really?! Where?" "Now where was it? It's only been 200 years..." I rolled my eyes as Donald facepalmed. "Well, wherever it is. we've got to stop Jafar before it's too late." Aladdin nodded, pushing us out the side door towards the Palace Gates across the awnings, slashing through heartless. Upon reaching the Palace Gates, Aladdin jumped off the awnings first, while the boys and I followed him "Setting your sights a little high, aren't you boy? Back to your hole street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess anymore." I growled, unsheathing my daggers as Aladdin called out to the girl. "Jasmine!" "I'm so sorry, Aladdin." Aladdin turned to Genie, a pleading look to his eyes "Genie! Please, help Jasmine!" Genie poofed over to Jasmine, grabbing her and taking her up in his arms "One wish left! You're making this really easy, you know?" I growled as Jafar cackled. "So sorry boy. I'm afraid that your second wish has been denied." Aladdin gasped in surprise as Iago grabbed the lamp off his pant loops, Sora and I tripped over each other to grasp the bird, but were unable to as he got away. Genie disappeared, dropping Jasmine into a pot as the girl screamed. Sora pushed himself up, pulling me off the ground as smoke wound it's way up the vizier and Genie. Jafar waved his staff, spurring the Pot Centipede on. "And now, i bid you all farewell. Attack!" I unsheathed my daggers as the Centipede jumped at us, separating us. I don't know how long we were chasing that thing throughout the Bazaar before Sora skidded to a halt, hands on his knees while Donald, Goofy and Aladdin kept running after it, trying to free Jasmine. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sora! We need to keep after that thing!" He nodded, digging in his pocket. "I know Christie, but we're only wearing ourselves out like this." We both looked up as Donald squawked a warning. Sora pushed me out of the way, the item he had pulled out of his pocket glowing as it reacted to the Keyblade. "Courage!" I covered my eyes from the light, and when i reopened then, a lion was clawing at the Pot Centipede, destroying pots quicker than we could have ever done. "Simba..." I dusted myself off, running to stand beside Sora as Simba turned to face him, the pot centipede gone. Sora smiled brightly in thanks as Simab started disappearing, but just before the lion did, he looked at me, smiling as only a lion could. "So, you're the one.... Take care of each other." I clutched at my head as Simba's voice rang inside, forming an image. Four lion cubs ran across the grasslands. One had dark brown fur and a spiky mane. The cub running alongside him was slightly smaller, obviously female. Said cub had dark red fur with an even darker red mane. The other two cubs ran behind them, bigger and slightly weary of the world, if their running said anything. One was also female, with dark brown fur and a darker brown, almost black mane flat on her nack. The last cub was the biggest of the four, with silver fur and a long silver mane. He ran with a pronounced limp in one of his back paws, but kept pace. "Jasmine!" I shook my head to clear it as Jafar's voice rang out across the plaza, cackling. Aladdin jumped, pointing towards the exit of the city. "To the desert! Come on, let's move!" Aladdin whistled for the carpet, and we were off. --- Riku rolled his eyes as Jafar babbled on and on to himself, the Pot heartless that held the princess walking at his side as the blue Genie flew above him. Said Genie flew down to Riku "Hey kid, what are you doing with this kook? You've got two worried people out there looking for you." Riku looked at the spirit out of the corner of his eye. "Becuase, i'm trying to keep a promise i made. A promise to protect her." --- I slashed through another Heartless, breathing a sigh of relief as the last of them faded away, resheathing my daggers and stepping forward towards the Cave of Wonders with Aladdin leading the way. As the ground rumbled with the awakening of the Guardian, i rolled my eyes. It was impossible to get a break in this place. Sora tumbled to the ground, unable to keep his balance before Aladdin grabbed him. "You've got to be careful! Somethings wrong with the Guardian!" I snarled as heartless approached us, blades dancing in the sandy night. I shook my head, placing a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Sora, the Guardian's controlling these things. If we take it out, we can stop all these heartless." He nodded, running forward clumsily to the guardian with me chasing after him. We climbed around the back, and i gestured for him to attack one eye as i got the other one. We fell off once or twice as the guardian got weaker and more volatile, but a blizzard spell from Donald finished off the sandy tiger. With the entrance open, we were free to go in. I'm not going to explain how we got through there, but i can tell you that the water in the catacombs is COLD! Once all the crystal keys had been triggered, we made our way into the treasure room, with a slight interruption from Donald's greedy streak. Aladdin pushed the door open, and we were able to catch the last snippets of Jafar and Maleficent's conversation. "That boy again?" I had to hold Sora back from rushing in to question Jafar. "He's more persistent than i expected. Why not explain the situation to that boy Riku? Doing so may actually prove useful to our-" Sora slipped out of my grasp at the mention of Riku's name, and ran into Jafar's view as Maleficent began to fade through a dark portal "Wait a second! Are you Maleficent?" I grabbed at Sora's arm as he ran to follow her, but Aladdin jumped up onto the platform where Jafar had Jasmine, only to get sent flying back down by Jafar's magic. He stood on shaky legs as he glared at the evil vizier. "Jafar, let Jasmine go!" "Not a chance street rat. You see, she's a princess. One of seven who somehow hold to the key to opening the door." I glared at the vizier, sneaking away from Sora to creep around to Iago. If i could grab the lamp, i could make sure Jafar never hurt the others. Unfortunately, my plans don't work most of the time. The bird saw me, then jumped up, flying to Jafar with the lamp in his talons "Jafar! The girl just tried to steal the lamp!" "I was willing to let you fools live. But my hand has been turned. Genie! My second wish. Crush them!" I jumped back to Sora and the others, unsheathing my daggers on the way down. "Genie, no!" Sora summoned the keyblade as we faced the blue spirit getting ready to fight us. "Sorry Al, the one with the lamp calls the shots. I don't have a choice." We all jumped aside, being scattered around the battlefield. Sora, Donald and Goofy ended up near the door we had come through, while Aladdin and i ended up crashing into the pedestal below Jafar. We nodded at each other, and clambered up the sides of the platform, surprising him as he was knocked off said platform. I called out to the boys below. "Guys! Forget about Genie, get Jafar!" I took off after Iago, but stopped as i heard Jafar's cry of pain. The vizier staggered over to the platform i was standing on, and i backpedalled as he called out to Genie. "Genie! My final wish! I want you to make me an all powerful genie!" I gasped as Genie snapped his fingers, his other hand over his eyes. The boys all jumped onto the other platforms to avoid Jafar's transformation and the resulting collapse of the floor. I met Sora's blue eyes as Genie flew over to Aladdin, transporting him to Jasmine. "Jasmine! Jasmine, wake up!" I put a hand on Aladdin's shoulder. "She's ok, she's just unconscious. Come on, we'd better deal with Jafar." He swallowed, then jumped down into the area where Jafar had gone, Sora and the others following after him. I turned back to look at the unconscious girl just before jumping down myself. "He cares about you, don't let that go to waste" With that said i jumped down after the boys. ---- Riku scoffed as he watched Christie and the others fight the Vizier, only to gasp in surprise as he ordered the Genie to turn him into a genie. The floor caved in from the force of the magical energies, making Jafar float down into the lava filled chamber below. He watched as Aladdin shook Jasmine, only to have Christie say something to him before he jumped down into the fray. Sora and his new companions jumped down after the eldest, but Christie turned to face the unconscious princess and said something he couldn't catch. She then jumped down, no fear on her features. Riku watched the fight for a moment, then jumped over the platforms to the princess who was also watching the fight. He snuck up behind her, and just as she realized he was there, he placed a gloved hand over her mouth. "If you fight me, the girl down there might die. I'd prefer if you don't fight me." The princess nodded, and he backed into a dark portal to take her back to Maleficent just as Christie reappeared on the platform, her brown eyes meeting his aqua. She gasped in surprise, then tried to stop Aladdin from running after him, only to trip as the platforms rumbled after Sora sealed the keyhole. He shook his head as the portal closed. "Soon." ---- I bit my lip as i listened to Aladdin's anguished cries. Jasmine was gone, Riku had taken her, and the cavern was collapsing. Goofy dragged him onto the carpet, and the rest of us jumped onto said carpet after him before large chunks of rock began to fall around us. It was a tricky ride out, but we made it in one piece. Singed, but in one piece. The carpet flew us back to Aladdins house, and said boy sat down on the stairs near the entrances to the alleyway. "So, Jasmines no longer in Agrabah. Sora, Christie, let's go find her." I rubbed my neck as Sora looked at the ground. "Sorry Aladdin, but you can't come with us." "Wh-Why not?!" I looked at him, licking my lips, "Aladdin, i wish we could, but if we took you with us, we'd be meddling into things that aren't very safe." Sora nodded, a sad look in his eyes. "Aladdin, we'll find Jasmine. I promise." ALddin nodded, but his head fell and his shoulders sagged as Genie appeared. "Uh, earth to Al. Hello? You still have one wish left. Look, just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you." He looked dissapointed, but was ready to snap his fingers. "I....I wish.... For your freedom Genie." Genies jaw dropped as i smiled. "AL!" Genie's cuffs disappeared in poofs of golden smoke, and his tail was replaced by legs. "A deal's a deal, Genie. Now you can go anywhere you want to. You're your own master. But if you can, it'd be great if you could go along with them and help Sora and Christie find Jasmine." Genie crossed his arms, turning to face away from Aladdin "Sorry Al, i'm done taking orders from others. But, a favor, now that's entirely different! I guess i could try. After all, that's what friends are for, right Al?" Aladdin smiled, nodding. "Yeah Genie." I smiled, those two would be fine. Aladdin looked at us, smiling. He stepped away from the window, walking past us to a small chest. Abu picked the lock, and he came out with two small pouches. "About a week ago, a man in a red cloak came, he said to give these to two kids matching your descriptions." He handed one pouch to Sora, and the other one to me. Keychains were inside the pouches, for me there was a golden flying carpet and a small ruby crystal. I unclipped Jungle Queen, slipping them into my pouch as i clipped on these new ones. In a swirl of golden light, the hilts themselves became gold with Lapis Lazuli winding it's way up the handles. The blades themselves were gold, with intricate cloud designs inscribed. 'Souls Desire' I slipped them into my sheathes, not surprised to find they were so light. I turned to Aladdin, smiling. "Thanks. We'll make good use of these." He nodded as Genie poofed out of sight, and the boys and I stepped onto the transport beacon I had set up. "Good luck you guys, please, bring Jasmine back." I nodded as Sora smiled. "We will, i promise!" With that, we transported back onto the Infinity, said AI welcoming us back. "Glad to see you safe and sound Captain. Where to?" "Just try and find a world we haven't been to yet." "Yes captain, right away" I sighed, ploping down in the captains chair as Sora looked at me. "Christie, that was Riku back there, wasn't it?" I nodded, only to nearly fall out of my chair as the ship shook violently. "CAPTAIN! Unidentified object approaching! I will be unable to get us far away from it time to avoid a collision, brace for impact!" I pushed Sora into his seat, but fell over as Monstro swallowed us up, hitting my head on one of the consoles. As I fell, I could barely make out Sora's concerned cries as my world went black. ---- "That smarmy vizier could have had them, if someone had stuck around to give him a hand!" Hades struck the table, glaring at Riku "Hey, I did my part. I brought the princess didn't I?" Maleficent intervened in the argument "Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred." She turned to Hades, cold cat yellow eyes glowing in the minimal light of the room "One should beware of letting it burn to fiercely." Hades backed away from the table in fear. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lighten up, i'm as cool as they come, okay?" Riku rolled his eyes, Hades always lied to cover his rear around Maleficent. Said God of Death turned to face him. "By the way kid, have we got a surprise for you." Maleficent nodded as Riku turned to face her. "We had a deal, yes? You help us, and we grant you your wish." Maleficent gestured to the table, where an image of an unconsious Christie was shown. A small trail of blood was snaking it's way down her head, and a large bruise had formed on her forehead. "Christie!" "Go to her. Your way is waiting." Riku ran off into the dark portal she had opened, worry creasing his face. "Hold on Chris, i'm coming." ---- 'Riku, Nii-san.... I'm sorry' ---- And thats it! Comments and criticism are welcomed with open arms!
Uh, Naruto fans, Akira Ishada also voices Gaara in the Japanese version of the show. (And i've watched enough subbed episodes to recognize his voice.)
What platform is Dissidia coming out on again? PSP right? (I want to play as that Monkey-Tailed thief again!)
Subbed Re:CoM Reverse/Rebirth Basements 11 and 12 both link to Basement 12.
547 songs in my library, 132 on my iPod. (I own a severely outdated 1st Gen Shuffle.)
(growls) You little...... (laughs) You had me so duped! Well, your spelling is certainly getting better, i didn't find ANY errors. Keep it up.
I noticed another error. (singsong voice) Look wherever it is red! Shouldn't that be definitely? Regardless, it's coming along nicely. :D Looking forward to chapter 4!!
(smiles) It's turning out quite good. There's one problem i noticed though. Here it is. Your making the boys to out of character. Now, i know that boys will be boys and fight over the girl, but Riku and Sora are closer than most, (PLATONIC!) so i can't really see them fighting over Kairi, making her choose between them. (shrugs) That's just me though. Still, good work, looking forward to the next chapter.
Well, i think it's good for an Attempted Start. I noticed one spelling error and one punctuation problem, but i'm a nitpicker. Try and make the next chapter a little bit longer, and always, ALWAYS read over your finished draft to check for both spelling and grammatical errors, but otherwise SPELLING ERROR PUNCTUATION ERROR ^ (Should be a period or exclamation mark, not a comma) (I bolded the errors, just to let you know)
