Kingdom Hearts: Quiet's End

Kira thought for a moment. "Well," she said. "I know who they used to be, but hearts have a tendancy to change over time. We would have to go around and test all the former princesses, excepting Kairi of course. She obviously hasn't changed at all. The other six were, let me see, there was Aurora, I believe, Cinderella, Alice, Snow White, Belle, and there was one more... Um, I think it was Jasmine? Yes, that sounds right. So there you go, those along with Kairi were the seven princesses of heart." She paused and thought over what he had said, about this powerfull Keyblade. It was an intriguing idea. Perhaps she should make finding this Keyblade a high priority for the Order.

 

"Right...i think i've heard of a few of those...May i take a rain check o training the boy to hunt a few of them down?" R asked.

 

"Yes," Kira said. "Go ahead, I trust you will do a good job." She smiled at him before returning to the training room, this really had been a good day.

When Sora got to the Queen's Castle, he saw an army of card soldiers marching out into Wonderland. Their leader was a very tall man on a horse, and when Sora looked closer, he realized the man wasn't just tall, he had extremely long arms and legs. It was very odd, and Sora felt that this was a man he didn't especially like. He watched as the small army left the Castle, and then he snuck into the rose maze, just to see if anybody was there.

Kairi found a strange secret passage in the corridor, leading to a basement under the castle. She walked slowly through the dim halls, the complete quiet was a little eerie, but she wasn't afraid. She walked until she got to a room larger than the rest, with a sort of raised floor in the middle. As she approached, a heartless appeared, and another, and another. There were three large bodies, all in this room. She drew her keyblade and began to fight, while the party went on upstairs.

Riku stepped out of the dark portal and onto a dusty street. The air was hot and humid, and as Riku looked around, he saw he was in the Bazaar in Agrabah. He looked around, nobody in here. So he began walking the streets toward the royal city.

 

Whe Shane steped out of his portal, he expected to be in Traverse Town, but the world looked nothing like it, In fact, he was at a black castle surrounded by thorns. "Guess my destination was affected." He said as he headed towards the forest.

 

R opened a dark corridor and walked through. It let out in a very strange room. It was pink and white checkered with a table on the ceiling and chandeliers hanging up from the floor. What in the world was this place? He had never been in this particular part of wonderland. He searched for a door leading out but eventually found a hatch which opened up a section of the wall. He entered this and came out on top of a hedge with some commotion below. He looked over the edge to find his target and none other than the hero of light. Of course..why should i expect this to be easy? It never is...

 

Xero watched as Hitomu trained. He's making good progress. As he continued to watch, he wondered if there plan would work.

 

Sora walked through the maze, it was practically empty. No card soldiers, no heartless, no Riku or Kairi. He sighed and turned around, trying to remember which way was back to the castle. Finally, he found it, and as he stood, he saw the small army returning, with a prisoner. The Mad Hatter was with them, in chains. Wait... Why take the Mad Hatter? He's harmless! he thought. Hmm. Something strange was happening in Wonderland. He'd better go find Alice and see what was happening.

 

R Sat on the hedges, unmoving and silent as the grave. He watched as the hatter returned as a prisoner. A prisoner eh? He thought to himself then looked over to sora. He was, in the words of Diz, far to nice for his own good. He wouldn't be able to resist helping a harmless prisoner being marched to his execution. So, R decided to see how this played out.

 

Sora found Alice just a little ways away from a small river. He almost would never have found her, except for she was right next to the Mad Hatter's hat. He bent down to pick it up, and there she was. Tiny. "Whoa," he said. "What happened to you?" She looked up at him. "The Mad Hatter gave me Pishsalver," she said. "To make me small enough to hide." Sora was confused. Pishsalver? What was that supposed to be? "Uh, well what's going on? I just got back to Wonderland, and don't know what's happening." "I'm afraid I don't know much myself," she said. "I only got here yesterday, and it's all only a dream anyway." Sora looked at her. "It is?" he asked. "Why, yes, I'm quite sure of it," she said. "This is all just in my head." Sora looked around, not sure what to say. "Well, I can't leave you here, is there someplace safe I can take you?" He held out his hand and she climbed up on it. "I want to go to the Red Queen's Castle," she said determinedly. "I'm going to rescue the Mad Hatter." "Are you sure about that?" Sora asked, standing up. "It looks pretty dangerous." "Yes," Alice said. "And don't forget the hat."

 

He sat there, watching, waiting. So she was going back to save the hatter....Maybe she was still a princess after all. Only time would tell. R made up his mind that he was going to decide whether or not she was a heart of light at the castle. If so, He would take her back to the castle to have her heart extracted with the other princesses. If not, he would let her be and move on.

 

As they traveled, Alice told Sora all about the war in Underland, as he now learned it was called. The Red Queen wasn't really the rightful queen in Underland, she had stolen the crown from her younger sister, the White Queen, who lived on the other side of Underland. The world had been troubled ever since, darkness reigned everywhere. But the people still had hope that they would be rescued from her evil reign by a hero from another world, who would find the Vorpal sword and slay the horrible Jabberwocky. "And everyone says that Alice is supposed to slay the Jabberwocky, but I don't slay, and they all say that I'm the wrong Alice. Except for the Mad Hatter. He says that I'm the real Alice, I just lost my muchness. And what about you? Do you think I'm the wrong Alice?" Sora looked at her, she was sitting in his hand as he carried her. "I don't know," he said honestly. "You look like the right Alice, and you sound like the right Alice, but something is missing, something that made the right Alice very special." He remembered that first Alice, the little girl who had the heart of a princess. This Alice didn't seem to have that heart. Perhaps the Hatter was right, though. Perhaps she had simply lost her muchness.

When they reached the Queen's Castle, there was a large moat full of floating heads; the heads that belonged to the Queen's victims. Sora looked down at them, they were disgusting. Beyond the moat was a high wall, there was no way Sora was going to be able to get over that moat. Sora bent down and set Alice gently in the grass. "Lost my muchness, have I?" she said, and as he watched, she started jumping from head to head, crossing the moat in the proccess. When she reached the other side, she turned and motioned for Sora to throw the hat over the wall. She wanted to return it to the Hatter. Sora tossed it up over the wall like a frisbee and Alice dissappeared into a small crevice in the base of the wall. Sora sighed, he had helped Alice alright, he had helped her to go probably to her death. Maybe he should have taken her to the white queen instead. So he turned and began to run down towards the other side of Underland, where the White Queen's castle was supposed to be. He could at least tell her what was going on.

 

Kairi destroyed the three Large Bodies and after quickly checking the rest of the castle, headed back upstairs. She found another secret passage, this one leading to a small door that opened up on a sort of balcony overlooking the ballroom. The party was still going on, with the Prince and Princess dancing gracefully in the center of the room. She smiled as she looked down, remembering times when she and Sora had twirled around their small house, with Hitomu and Mitsuko laughing and watching, clapping their small hands to keep a beat. She sighed, when would they be able to do that again?

Riku reached the Palace gates and saw the Sultan Aladdin riding away on a horse, Jasmine looking fearfully after him. After Aladdin had gone, Riku walked over to the former princess. She looked much older now, ten years hadn't exactly left her untouched. With a jolt, he realized that she was around the same age as he was, and it hit him again that he was no longer the boy he once had been. He wondered how much of a difference was in him, He knew he had changed over the years, yes, but it had happened gradually and he didn't really know how different he might have become. "Hey," he said. Jasmine turned around, startled. "Oh, I didn't see you there!" She looked at him closely. "I... I don't think I recognize you, are you from here?" Riku remembered that she hadn't ever seen him throughout the adventures of ten years before, she had been asleep whenever he was around. "Naw, I'm not from here," he said simply. "I'm looking for some friends of mine, Sora and Kairi." Jasmine's eyes filled with remembering when she heard Sora's name. "Oh, Sora," she said. "Yes, I remember him. But I haven't seen him in years. I'm afraid I can't help you. But I hope you find him, is he in trouble?" Riku half-smiled. "You could say that, yeah." he said. "Trouble seems to follow him around a lot." "Well, I hope he's alright," she said. "I'll never forget what he did for me all those years ago." Riku thanked her and left. Would she have been so friendly if she had known that he was the one who caused her all that trouble in the first place? But something was different about her, something was off. She wasn't a princess of heart anymore, he could tell. It wasn't a surprise, really. She had barely been one the first time around.

Mitsuko woke up in a dark, small stone room, with no doors or windows. a dim light shone from above, and as she looked up, she realized that there was no ceiling, beyond the place where it would have been, emptiness strecthed on until it reached the ceiling of the floor above. She was in a dungeon. At first, she was mad. They had tricked them! Decieved them into believing that they were with friends, and then treated them like this. Mitsuko now knew what she had at first only suspected. Kira had pushed her into the dark portal and sent her here. The darkness must have made her fall asleep, because she wasn't used to so much of it at once. But now she was awake and angry. She ran at one of the walls and beat it with her small fists. She didn't expect it to do any good, but it made her feel a little better. Her anger soon melted away, and she realized that Hitomu wasn't there with her. They had never been apart before, and she didn't like it. What was Kira doing to him? Was he in a cell like this one? Was he angry, or afraid, or even worse; was he hurt? She sat against the wall, trying to connect to him, but something was blocking her. She didn't know whaat, but she couldn't find him.

Hitomu was in a large bedroom, with a wall of pure glass shining out into the dark sky like a window. The other three walls were white, and the floor was white, and the bed was white. In fact, the white was almost blinding, but he didn't care. He had trained for a long time, and he had gotten the basics down pretty well. Kira told him he had done well, and then brought him to this bedroom and told him to get a goodnight's sleep. "Tomorrow," she had said. "We begin training for real." He felt tired, but it was a good kind of tired, like he'd been working hard and now could rest. He laid down in his bed and thought about Mitsuko. He was worried about her, and almost tried to open his heart to try to connect with her, but before he even knew what was happening, he fell asleep.

Kira was in the Round Room, she had found it with little difficulty. She sat in the highest set, the seat that had onc belonged to Xemnes, and talked to the two followers who were still there, Beucefilous and Xero. She wanted them to know what her plans were, so there wouldn't be any feelings of distrust. So she explained to them the matter of the Princesses of Heart, and how R was out checking on them and determining who still had their status and who was lacking. She explained that by connecting these hearts, she hoped to create a Keyblade that would have the power to unlock the darkness that resides deep within the heart. She looked at the other two members, and smiled. "So, any questions? Any other ideas you'd like to share?" If the member of her Order felt that she trusted them, and respected their opinions (which she did), than they would be more willing to trust her, and respect her opinions.

When Sora reached the Castle of the White Queen, she went out to meet him. He told her about Alice's resolve to go to the Red Queen's Castle, and told her that he had taken her there. "Sorry," he said. "I probably should have taken her here anyway, where she would be safe." The White Queen looked at him, smiling. "Don't worry," she said airily. "It is there where she will find the Vorpal Sword and meet her destiny."

 

R sat on top of the castle and saw the hat fly over the wall and Alice come in with it. "She's here then..." R thought as he looked down to watch and see how things played out.

Beucefilous sat a few chairs away from Kira in the throne that had once belonged to Demyx. "Uh yeah i go a question. Who's gonna get this ultimate keyblade? 'Case it seems like R is doing most of the work but you're the leader and if there's debate about it i may as well throw my hat into that ring." He said to his leader.

 

Over the course of the day, Alce felt that everything was getting curiouser and curiouser. First off, the Red Queen was playing croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs, and one of the poor little creatures landed next to her. She untied it's paws (they were bound to make it form a ball), and the white rabbit was sent to retrieve the hedgehog. He had given her a bit of upelkuchen and she'd eaten too much. She grew much bigger than she'd intended to, about as big as she would be in the real world, if she ever got out of here. She had seen the Mad Hatter and talked to him, too, and she had found out where they kept the Vorpal Sword. She approached the hiding place now, a small grey building, with a creature snoring inside. The Bandersnatch. She remembered him from the day before, when he had chased them and scratched her. She could still feel the deep cuts on her arm, they were getting worse. She crept inside and the beast awoke, growling and snarling at her menacingly, glaring at her with his one eye. He'd lost the other in the fight. She took a small package out of her pocket and opened it; it was the Bandersnatches missing eye. Somehow, Mally Umpkin, the Doremouse, had got a hold of it. She rolled it on the floor towards the beast, who scooped it with his paw and started trying to get it back in his eye. She crept past him, there was a cot against the wall. A blanket was on the cot, covering something. The scratches on her arms began to hurt even worse, the pain was almost all she could feel. She pulled the blanket off the object, it was a box, long and slender. The Vorpal Sword, she thought. She tried to open it, but it was locked. The pain in her arm was making her fell tired now, and the Bandersnatch had finished getting his eye back into it's socket. He began to turn, and she clawed at the lock desperately. She had to get the sword, so she could defend herself. But the beast didn't attack, he just layed down and fell asleep. The strain and suspense were too much, coupled with the dizzying pain from her arm, and with the breath of relief, she fell asleep against the cot.

Riku walked quickly through the city, there was no sign of Sora or Kairi, or anyone from the order. He left and headed out into the desert, searching the old half-buried ruins, until he got to the entrance to the Cave of Wonders. It wasn't there. He wasn't surprised, it seemed that the cave was only there every once in while. But the darkness could have opened up anywhere, if Sora or Kairi had been dropped in the cave, they would have no way out. So he opened a dark portal to the inside of the cave, and walked through, sighing. The cave was large, and he had a lot of ground to cover.

Kira paused, she honestly hadn't even thought about who should have the key. She looked around at the two remaining members, and thought about R, doing his part and collecting the princesses. She trusted them completely, of course. She wouldn't have minded having them all share it, but she didn't think that would work, considering the weapon. "Hmm... I suppose that the best way to go about it is to all be present as the Keyblade is formed, and we will let it choose whom to serve. That way, the alligience between blade and master will be strong. R is figuring out which princesses are the seven, and he will bring them back here one at a time until we have them all, and so as for the two of you, until we have another mission to do, I give you leave and free reign. Go where you will, do what you will, spread the darkness to the worlds or simply take a vacation, it is up to you. I am going to stay here with the twins, and further our progress in this mission. If you have any questions to ask, information to report, ideas to present, or you just want a safe place to stay the night, I will be here in the castle." She looked at Beucefilous and smiled. "Does that answer your question?" she asked. The darkness was swelling inside her, bubbling up, and she didn't think she could keep control much longer. She needed to get to a quiet place, where she could let herself go and not put the boy at risk. She couldn't afford to have him see her in her uncontrolled state.

 

"I guess I'll stick around here. Xero said leaning back slightly in his seat. He had nothing else to do so he probably could just hang around here.

After looking around what he had hoped to be the entire forest, he decided to check another world and opened a doorway leading to one.

 

R watched as the girl fell into sleep from the wounds. If she was a princess of heart, he couldn't have her dying on him. So, he crept down to her location and used a healing spell on her which mostly closed the cuts. There where still small scratches but nothing serious. He looked over at the locked box containing the Vorpal Sword and paused. He could easily open it and free an entire enslaved kingdom, but if he did, that would make her all the harder to catch when he finally tried to capture her. He thought back to his distant past..A faint memory of a blonde woman with bright green eyes appeared in his mind and filled him with rage. Once upon a time she had taken everything from him. He knew what it felt like to be enslaved, have no control over anything. With that thought, he looked outside at the helpless creatures being caused suffering at the queen's hands. Holding out his dark blade, he shot a ball of black fire, searing the lock off the box completely and quickly looked to the sleeping beast, hoping he hadn't roused it. To R's relief, it still lay here in deep slumber. As silent as the shadows themselves, he scaled the wall of the building and once again sat on top of the castle, peering down at everything underneath him.

Beucefilous sat back in his chair at the mention of a vacation. "Oh i got an idea to present alright, what do ya' say we get a hot tub in this joint?" He said with a chuckle.